Chocolated Lupin (English version)
by Catlaxy
Summary: Starting her fifth year in Hogwarts, Cathie Mist meets her new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts. As she knows nothing about love, she will soon have more than strange feelings for this teacher...
1. A brief taste of chocolate

**Author's Note:** This fanfiction is the English version of "Chocolated Lupin", a fiction I wrote in French 11 years ago. Now that my level in English has improved (compared to what it was 11 years ago), I've decided to take up the challenge and translate my whole story from French to English. This will take some time, but I'll do my best. Of course, as English is not my mother tongue, you may find some grammar or syntax errors... Please, let me know if some words or sentences need to be rectified. Also, I'm looking for a native English beta-reader who could read my story and correct my English mistakes before I publish my chapters. If someone is interested, please contact me by PM!

* * *

I don't really know why I feel like writing this, as the summer holidays have just started... Probably because I want to dry my tears, cheer up, and remember my fifth year in Hogwarts. The year which was by far the best, full of happy memories: a book of Defense Against the Dark Arts, a failed Patronus, a white and full moon, a tie, an apple, and... A chocolate cake...

 **¤~ Chocolated Lupin ~¤**

 **Chapter 1  
** _A brief taste of chocolate_

Once again, Cathie Mist had arrived early. She wasn't used to being late, but she wasn't used to arriving right on time either. Instead, she was always the first to show up at a meeting point, and, this time, she had reached Platform Nine and Three-Quarters far too soon. It was ten in the morning, and the Hogwarts Express was supposed to leave at eleven.

Cathie stopped pushing her luggage trolley and made a halt, silently looking at the train station.

As expected, the platform was almost empty. Only three first-years stood there, and even though their parents were with them, they seemed quite lost and anxious. Considering this was their first day of magical school, they had probably preferred to come here earlier, in order to be sure not to miss the train.

The Hogwarts Express was already standing next to the platform. However, the tall chimney of the scarlet-metal steam engine wasn't releasing any smoke plumes yet. Cathie sighed. She didn't have much choice: she just had to wait...

"Sorry, Miss, could you step aside, please? You're in my way," said a voice behind her.

She suddenly woke up from her slumber and stepped aside, so that an old wizard with a ridiculous check suit could walk past her. She grumbled while watching him walk away. She couldn't be left alone, could she? The platform was practically deserted, but the only nuisance of the station had just chosen to bother _her_. Yet, when she turned back, she realised that the barrier wall which was used as a way between Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and the Muggle platform of King's Cross was just twenty inches behind her. If she kept standing here, then she was indeed going to bother many wizards... So she walked a bit further, pushing her trolley with a metallic noise.

Today, Cathie Mist was starting her fifth year in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Sorting Hat had sent her to Ravenclaw, the house of serious and rational students. "Serious"? Yes, she could be serious... But, sometimes, she could as well be totally crazy, immature, hysterical, and her friends were unfortunately there to testify... As to "rational"... No, honestly, the Sorting Hat must have made a mistake! She could be really stupid, sometimes... So stupid that she liked to call herself "Cat", as an abbreviation to Cathie, in order to give her name a more elegant and less ordinary style. "Call me Cat!" she would often say with a classy and mysterious voice to her friends. But then they would stare at her, looking skeptical and worried about her mental health. "If you want..."

While she was walking along Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, she felt a cool breeze in her brown mid-length hair. Her chocolate-brown eyes stopped for a few moments upon the posters on the wall, showing Sirius Black. "Have you seen this wizard?" was written on the posters, with a picture of the man who had managed to escape the Azkaban Prison. Cat was of average height and rather thin. She wasn't used to wear warm clothes, and today wasn't an exception. Even though the weather was pretty cool and wet, she only wore a white tank top, blue jean shorts and black sneakers.

As she was walking by a group of students and their parents, loud raucous meows suddenly came from her trolley. With a scarlet red face, Cathie looked straight ahead, in order not to see all these surprised faces that had just turned towards her. She kept walking, trying to look as innocent as possible. But the plaintive meows recurred with greater intensity, and Cat had to stop. It wasn't possible! It wasn't possible not to get noticed, with _him_!

"Grrrr! You're really doing it on purpose, aren't you?"

"Meoooow!"

Blushing with shame, perfectly aware that everybody was now looking at her and at the source of the noise that had sounded like a tiger's roar, Cathie took a heavy wicker basket from her trolley and put it on the ground. The basket was containing a huge ginger cat. The young witch turned her head towards the group of people who were staring at her and laughed stupidly, as a drop of sweat was running down her temple.

"Huhuhu!"

Then, she said to her cat, with clenched teeth:

"You'll pay for this!"

She continued emptying her trolley and took out a big cauldron full of books. She put her hand in her pocket, took out her wand – a thin greenish stick, made of linden and unicorn hair – and pointed it to the trolley, pronouncing:

" _Reducto!_ "

She bent down to pick up the tiny trolley – which was now about an inch long –, stored it in her pocket, and started walking again, now loaded down with her luggage: her cat basket in one hand, and her cauldron in the other.

"Meow!"

Cathie raised desperate eyes to the sky, asking Merlin why on earth she had deserved that. Not only was her cat particularly heavy, but it was as if he was trying to do his best to attract attention on his mistress. Cathie's life was so cruel...

Plumpshanks – that was the feline's name – weighed about twenty pounds. He had spent the nine years of his life devouring and gulping down his meals, and now his body consisted of a reasonably thick layer of fat. But in spite of his little overweight, he looked very beautiful: he had a short and blazing red hair, pale green eyes, big white whiskers and a small pink nose. Yes, he was very cute. A little heavy, but very cute.

With her last breath, Cathie put down the basket and the cauldron faster than expected. Leaning forward, her hands on her knees, catching her breath, she wondered what she was going to do for the time that remained before the leaving of the Hogwarts Express.

The doors of the train were already open. Could she get on the train right now? Her friends had told her that they would come to the station at half past ten. Therefore, she could save them a compartment and wait for them inside.

Considering this was a good idea, she took back her burden, and walked towards the door of one of the carriages. She minded the gap between the train and the platform very cautiously... All right, she wasn't _that_ stupid, but sometimes, well... you never know! Cathie Mist could be very absent-minded, very slow to react, and the assumption that she could stumble over a step or something was not to eliminate.

Another curious personality trait of hers was that she sometimes talked to herself. Maybe not loudly, but at least inside her head. For some time now, a small resonating voice had chosen to live in her head and to bother its host. Cathie thus spent hours deliberating with her conscience, even if, most of the time, it never led to anything...

"Of course it leads to something!"

"Sure..."

Clearly, a lunatic had got on the Hogwarts Express. And it could become dangerous, beware...

Now the lunatic was looking for a suitable compartment. In fact, there was plentiful choice, as all the compartments were empty. However, Cat seemed a bit difficult, as she passed in front of several compartments without stopping by, not examining them for more than three seconds, inexorably walking towards the rear of the train.

"Hmmm... Too small... Too big..."

Apart from the fact that both compartments were identical, everything was fine, really...

"Okay, let's have a look at this one... Hmmm, nah, the mattress of the left seat seems a bit too flat... Let's see the other compartment, I'm sure it will be better... Hmmm, nah, it's a bit dirty... Okay, next one..."

Cat stopped before the compartment whose windows were covered with black curtains. Then she imperturbably resumed her walk in the corridor.

"Too dark."

Well, the only thing to do was to open the curtains...

"So, now, if the next one is not okay, it will mean there's a problem somewhere..."

Anyway, she didn't have much choice now: it was the last compartment...

"Ah... Ah, yes... It's the last compartment..." Cat noted, looking alternately at the door of the last compartment and at the wall in front of her and that marked the end of the corridor.

Indeed, she had arrived at the rear of the last wagon.

"Well, come to think of it, this compartment is not so bad" Cat said, putting down her basket and her cauldron and sitting down on the green mattress of the left bench seat, next to the window.

Cat kept talking to herself, but apart from that, nothing wrong...

"I don't care if I talk to myself! There's nobody here!"

But, who knows? A handsome young man could enter the compartment and hear her...

"Nonsense!"

Cathie found a comfortable position, stretching her legs, folding her arms behind her head, and leaning the back of her head against the palms of her hands. After all, it wasn't her fault if she had arrived at King's Cross one hour earlier. Her mother, a witch, had dropped her off at the station sooner than expected because she had to urgently drive her father, a Muggle, to the St. Mungo's Hospital. Incurable disease? Serious injury? No, no. He had simply been bitten by a copy of _The Monster Book of Monsters_ , while trying to help the bookseller from Flourish and Blotts catching the vicious book. Alas, he hadn't realised the extent of the danger, and he had finally taken the ferocious book away from its cage, hooked to his finger. The book had been toughly closed and sealed with a belt, but unfortunately it hadn't prevented the father's injury to get infected this morning.

What an idea, for that matter, to ask the students to buy such a thing... Especially for the class of Care of Magical Creatures... As if these lessons weren't tiring enough... Tiring... Was it going to be the same for the end-of-year examinations? The O.W.L.s... Oh yes, the O.W.L.s! Cat had almost already forgotten them. No, frankly, this year was going to be even more tiring than the other years... Apart from a miracle, it was going to be as boring as the years before. Always seeing the same faces, the same students, the same teachers: strict Professor McGonagall, Binns and his deadly boring classes of History of Magic, Trelawney and her eyes unreasonably enlarged by her big spectacles – which usually made Cat burst with laughter –, Snape, his obvious sadism and his sarcastic replies, which were, after all, piercingly funny... Alright, there were good things in all of that. But she wasn't going to say she liked Snape's classes, was she? No, but... Hmmm... And, come to think of it, Cat also wondered who was going to be her new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts...

She was suddenly roused from her thoughts by a short knock on the glass door of her compartment. She instantly turned her head towards the noise source, and saw a man standing there, as he had just slightly opened the door.

"Excuse me" he said with a friendly voice, "would you mind if I sit in your compartment? I've got my hands full, and I don't have the courage to go through the whole wagon to find another compartment... This one is the first I found..."

Cathie didn't answer immediately, because she was too busy staring dumbly at this stranger. So it was him, the handsome young man who was supposed to enter her compartment? Um... In fact, he was supposed to be a little bit younger... But it didn't matter. The wizard was in his mid-thirties. He was tall and thin, and was indeed carrying a huge suitcase which seemed as heavy as the cat basket Cathie had painfully carried. It was so heavy that the man seemed exhausted. He had chestnut hair, with some grey and white hair strands, and he had two big scars on his face, two scratches which were, nonetheless, quite discrete. He was so pale that he looked sick. He had amber eyes, and a very thin light brown moustache above his upper lip. His clothes looked miserable. He was wearing a big and thick dark grey cloak, a greenish old suit, patched in some places with mismatched pieces of cloth. Under his jacket could be seen the top of a greyish shirt, with an old black tie around his collar.

Worried about Cathie's silence, the man raised his eyebrows and slightly tilted his head to one side, to see if the girl was alright. Cat finally noticed that the man was looking at her questioningly and was waiting for her to say something.

"Oh! Er... Yes, of course! Sure, come in!"

The wizard, apparently relieved, smiled back at her. It was a gentle smile, which raised his thin moustache and gave Cat this impression that she had just invited in her compartment a very kind man. Anyway, it was strange that, this time, Cat wasn't complaining that she was being disturbed by the second nuisance of the station, who, as if by coincidence, decided to sit in _her_ compartment, whereas all the other compartments were empty... Yes, but this time, it was different.

"I can understand why you're surprised" the man said, entering the compartment, not without some difficulties, because of his huge suitcase which could hardly get through the door. "Surely you don't usually see adults on the Hogwarts Express... Normally, this train is for students only."

Cathie nodded to agree, while the wizard walked past her, towards the luggage net.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't find any other means of transport to go teaching at Hogwarts."

"Teaching?" Cat repeated, while her heart skipped a beat. "You... You're a teacher?"

"I am" he said, lifting painfully his old dented suitcase, in order to put it in the luggage net. "I'm going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm Professor Lupin."

"Ah!" Cat said, with a little surprise, because a few seconds before she was asking herself who was going to occupy this cursed post, and now the professor involved was standing right in front of her.

She didn't know what to answer ("Nice to meet you!", "My name is Cathie Mist, but you can call me Cat!"), and she simply watched him open his suitcase, which was already in the luggage net. He seemed to have forgotten something in his bag, as he was mechanically searching inside, but trying not to make a mess. He finally found what he was looking for, and, taking a glass bottle of water out of his suitcase, he inadvertently dropped something onto the floor. Instinctively, Cat leaned forward to pick it up and spare Professor Lupin the effort of doing it. However, she was quite surprised to find a chocolate bar on the floor. "Milk chocolate" she read on the red and green wrapping paper. This teacher certainly had good taste... (no hidden message in this phrase, of course).

"There!" Cat said, giving the man the chocolate bar. "It dropped from your suitcase!"

"Ah! Yes, thank you!" Professor Lupin said. "You can have a taste, if you want! It can only do you good!"

"Er... Are you sure?" Cathie asked, a bit embarrassed.

"Sure! Go on! Don't worry, I didn't poison the chocolate!"

Cat couldn't help laughing. She carefully tore the wrapping paper, revealing beautiful squares of chocolate, while Lupin opened his bottle. This was turning into a pleasant morning, after all: Cat, who had planned nothing special except waiting for her friends until half past ten, was now eating with a teacher. As Professor Lupin raised the bottle to his lips, Cat took a small piece of chocolate with her fingers and ate it. Her face beamed with bliss. Merlin, this milk chocolate was so delicious! Its taste was so wonderful! It was sweet, fine and warming. It was probably the best chocolate Cat had ever tasted, and she strongly wondered where on earth Lupin had bought it, and if she could take another piece. But she preferred not to abuse Lupin's kindness, and she simply gave him back his chocolate bar, when he had finished drinking and had put his bottle on the windowsill of the compartment.

"So?" he asked, storing it in his jacket pocket, with satisfaction in his eyes.

"It's really good!" she brightly answered.

"I agree", Lupin said, now closing his suitcase by carefully tying a long string around it. "I usually give this chocolate to people who've just come across a Dementor, so they can calm down and recover. But let's say that this time is a bit special: you kindly invited me into your compartment, and I had to thank you by offering you some chocolate!"

Cathie could clearly feel that she was blushing. The man finally sat down on the right bench seat, next to the window, precisely in front of the young witch. He gave her another one of his friendly and comforting smiles, and Cat felt her heart leap, without knowing why. She turned her head away, and looked at the platform through the window.

Even if this man seemed really nice, she now felt a bit embarrassed to find herself alone with him. Had he been a student of her age, it could have been acceptable... But he was a teacher. And so what? Where was the difference? Well, the difference was that a good little girl like Cat, finding herself all alone in a compartment with an adult man, it could seem a bit shady... Hmmm, yes, very shady... That thought made Cat turn her head towards the door of the compartment and stare at the corridor with horrified eyes, as if she had just realised something awful.

A light rustle of cloth coming from Lupin made Cat turn her head towards him. He had just wrapped himself a little more warmly in his dark cloak, and covered his nose with it. Through the window, Cat noted that the Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was now quite full with witches and wizards who were accompanying their children. Some of them were even getting on the train, as Cat heard more distinct voices coming from the corridor, as well as the slamming of some doors. Her friends would probably arrive soon. The platform was more and more crowded.

The door of Cat's compartment was suddenly opened, and a second year, who seemed to be looking for an empty compartment, said: "Oh, sorry!" before instantly closing the door. Cat turned red and felt a drop of sweat trickling down her temple. Honestly! Why did he say "Oh, sorry!" like this? What did he picture? Furious, Cat looked again at the professor. He was carelessly leaning against the wall of the window and his face was almost entirely covered by his cloak. He was probably sleeping. Cathie was cautious not to make too much noise...

Once again, the compartment door swung open violently, with a noise more deafening than ever.

"CAAAT!" a tall blond and blue-eyed girl cheerfully yelled, with open arms.

"Er..." Cat said stupidly, half sickened by all the noise her friend had just made.

"What in ze world are you doink here?" the blond girl said. "We'fe been lookink for you for one hour!"

"Well, I saved you a compartment..."

"Ahrr! Nein! We found anozer compartment, a bit furzer. Come on, eferyone's zere already!"

So she had saved this compartment and waited inside for nothing... Slightly disappointed, Cat stood up against her will, took her cauldron and her basket, and walked towards the door, following her friend. Whereas the blond girl was already going through the corridor, Cat, who was about to shut the door, turned to Professor Lupin one last time.

"Er..." she began shyly, wanting to say goodbye, but she realised he was definitely sound asleep.


	2. The attack of the Dededementor

**Chapter 2  
** _The attack of the Dededementors_

As the blond witch had said, the other girls were already sitting in a cab in the middle of the train, not very far from the cab where Cat had been waiting (for nothing). All in all, she could consider herself lucky that her blue-eyed friend had worried about her and had looked for her in the train. Cat was the kind of girl that people would easily forget. She could very well have made the trip all alone, lost at the rear of the train, abandoned by everyone.

"Hello again!" Cat's friend yelled, suddenly opening the door of the cab in which two girls were sitting.

"Oh, here comes the Error..." one of them said, with fake anxiety in her voice.

"My name is not ze Error! My name is Axelle!" the blond girl retorted.

Still, Cat laughed at the joke. She and her friends usually called Axelle "the Error", since she was the first and only mistake the Sorting Hat had ever made in all Hogwarts' history. Yes, Axelle knew it: she should have gone to Hufflepuff. She had everything to be a Hufflepuff: she was loyal, she was fair... Yet, during the Sorting ceremony, the Sorting Hat had chosen to send her to Ravenclaw, whereas she had nothing to do in this house: she wasn't serious at all, not thoughtful at all... Because of this huge mistake, she was lost in Ravenclaw classes, the lessons were too complicated for her and her marks were pretty bad. However, the positive side of ending up in Ravenclaw was that she had met three good friends of her age: Cathie Mist, Cherry Flint and Anna Bean.

"Anyway," Anna said, "you finally managed to find Cat?"

"Yes! She was hidink at ze rear of ze train" Axelle answered, helping Cathie to get rid of her cat basket and her cauldron.

She said hello to Plumpshanks, then put the basket and the cauldron in the luggage net, lifting them with no difficulty, thanks to her large and big size. Axelle Kraft was of German origin: she was a tall blond and blue-eyed girl, with pale skin and large shoulders ("Oh my God, an Aryan..."). And what couldn't leave any doubt about the country where she came from was her slight German accent: "No, I don't schpeak wiz a potato in my mouz!". The reason why this German girl ended up in England was simple: the region where she used to live was full of werewolves, typical creatures in Bavaria. So she had to move out of her native country when she was five, keeping painful memories of these evil creatures... The truth was that she had a real phobia of werewolves.

"I don't know what she was doink" the blond girl went on, finally sitting on the left bench seat which was vacant. "She was all alone, in front of a strange man..."

"Just so you know, this strange man, as you say, is a teacher!" Cat retorted, sitting between Axelle and the window, precisely at the same place she had occupied earlier in the other cab.

"A teacher?" Cherry said. "Impossible! Why would a teacher take the Hogwarts Express to go to Hogwarts?"

Cat shrugged, as she obviously didn't know the answer. But Cherry went on, drawing up a list of all the hypotheses that could explain why a teacher would be forced to take the train to go to school instead of using his own means of transport, ranking all these assumptions in descending order of probability, going from the most probable to the less possible, explaining by the way the difference between probable and possible, and finally ending with the conclusion that, except the train driver or the trolley-lady, an adult had never, ever been seen on the Hogwarts Express, and that today, September 1st, was going to be an historic date. Overwhelmed by so much blabbering, her friends didn't even realised that the train had started to move and gain speed. This was Cherry: when she was talking, she just couldn't stop. And it didn't matter if her friends were listening or not, provided they were pretending to do so, it was all that mattered, and so Cherry could keep speaking, and speaking... She was very tiresome... but very sociable too. Thus, she could speak to anyone about anything. Top of the class, she was of average height and had brown eyes and lower back length auburn hair.

"It's okay, Anna, you can wake up, she's done!" Axelle said, leaning towards Anna and shaking her by the shoulder.

"No, I'm not!" Cherry retorted, frowning but laughing all the same. "Look at what I bought in Diagon Alley!"

She grabbed a clay pot containing an awful plant with red flowers, among which two sharp fangs could be seen.

"A Fanged Geranium!" Cherry presented, showing the plant to the three other girls.

"Yuck! What the hell is that thing?"

"Get it out of my sight!"

"Groar!" the carnivorous plant growled.

"No, please! Keep it away from me!" Anna begged, rushing backwards on the bench seat to stay away from Cherry. "It's gonna bite me!"

"Of course noooooot!" Cherry said, laughing. "My Fanged Geranium is the cutest thing ever!". Then, she began to tickle the plant, but suddenly cried: "Ouch! It's bitten me!".

Anna, her back leaning against the cab door where she had sought refuge, looked mockingly at Cherry, who was now sucking her aching finger. But even though Anna had seemed terrified by a little fanged plant, she had a strong personality... and was very moody too. Sometimes, she could be extremely joyful, dancing and singing with happiness, and, the day after, she could suddenly fall into total depression, thinking about suicide... And only one thing could explain this sudden change of mood: the results of the Quidditch games involving the Ravenclaw team. Yes, because Anna Bean was a Ravenclaw fan, she worshipped this house with all her heart. She was the most devoted supporter of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and she was proud, oh yes, very proud to be a Ravenclaw. That's why she was already wearing her school uniform and her witch robe. Students usually put on their school clothes when the train was approaching Hogsmeade, but Anna absolutely wanted to be the first to wear the Ravenclaw Crest and the blue and silver tie. Even during the holidays, she would dress up in blue and silver. She had also cast a spell to dye her short hair in shining silver, so that they could match the natural blue colour of her eyes. But contrary to what one might think, Anna's pet was not an eagle. To her greatest disappointment, it was only an owl. To give herself the illusion that it was the symbolic hawk of Ravenclaw, she had named it Aquila. Another one of Anna's strange – and incredible – singularities was that she was the only student in all Hogwarts history who truly loved Professor Binns's boring classes of History of Magic. Everyone thought this class was the most uninteresting class of all, except Anna, who would miss these lessons for nothing in the world.

"Alright, as you wish" Anna said, searching into the cauldron she had put next to her on the bench seat. "If you keep threatening me with your crazy plant, I'm gonna have to take out my secret weapon to defend myself!"

"Your secret weapon?" Cat repeated, intrigued.

"Exactly! Here it is!"

With both her hands, Anna brandished her copy of _The Monster Book of Monsters_. The ferocious book was tied by a very thick rubber band, but that wasn't enough to prevent it from shaking and growling nastily.

"Graroaroargngngngroaroaroargngngn..."

Axelle stared at the thing, wide-eyed and awestruck.

"Great!" Cat said, smiling. "Now your Monster Book of Monsters and your Fanged Geranium can fight each other to the death! Go on! I bet on Anna's Monster Book!"

"And I bet it's ze plant zat's goink to eat ze book!" Axelle added joyfully. "It's already tried to eat Cherry's finger!"

"Are you insane?" Cherry yelled with an offended voice and her finger still in her mouth. "There's no way my Fanged Geranium is gonna fight that thing!"

"What's the problem?" Cat asked, surprised. "You're worried about your plant, even after it's tried to cut your finger? If I were you, I'd be merciless with it..."

"That's not the point" Cherry replied angrily. "It's just that I respect nature, and I don't want to spoil my geranium's petals. And I don't want to spoil books either. Have you thought about copyrights?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't really see the link..."

"The fact remains that my Fanged Geranium will not fight! I said no, it's no! Period."

On that final note, Cherry put the clay pot on the windowsill more violently than expected, producing a loud _BOCK!_

"Anyway," Anna said, putting her Monster Book on her lap, "it's no use worrying about the shape of my book: I got it for free."

"Seriously? How did you do zat?" Axelle asked, with an overly surprised voice.

"Axelle, are you teasing me, or are you really interested?"

"No, really" the blond girl said sincerely. "I'm really interested".

"Well, it's simple. Yesterday afternoon, I went to Flourish and Blotts to buy my school supplies. Yet, when I entered the shop, the bookseller was exhausted, with bites on all his arms and legs. When I told him I wanted to buy a Monster Book of Monsters, I thought he was going to faint. Then he told me that if I chose and took the book out of its cage by myself, he would give it to me for free. So I took his gloves and his stick, and I eventually managed to catch a Monster Book, which I had for zero Galleon!"

"Fantastic!" Cherry said, admiring.

"Fabulous!" Cat added.

"Yeah, but it's certainly not as fabulous as my story!" Axelle said. "Somezink absolutely incredible happened to me zis mornink!"

"Oh, really? You finally started to think?" Cherry said, joking.

"Ah!" Cat said. "That's why I saw smoke in the sky! No, wait, I know! You met Dumbledore as he was roller skating in the street!"

"Roller _what_?"

"You saw a werewolf?"

"Aaaaahrr! Nein! Don't say zat word!"

"You saw a snail?"

"Why a snail?"

"I know! You ate sauerkraut!"

"Hmmm! Oh yes! Yum yum, sauerkraut! Sehr sehr gut!" Cat joked.

"Noooooo!" Axelle yelled, losing patience. "It's not zat at all! Zis mornink, as I was sayink, somezink fery weird happened to me. I was at Kink's Cross station, pushink my trolley, walkink towards ze magic barrier. So, as usual, I start runnink, seeink ze barrier comink closer and closer, and zen... _BANG!_ My trolley literally crashes against ze barrier, wiz an awful noise, I'm brutally ejected backwards, I fall on ze ground, zree meters furzer."

"Well, coming from you, that doesn't surprise me..." Cat commented.

"But what is worst" Axelle continued, "is zat dozens of Muggles saw me headink blindly towards ze barrier and crashink into it. I'm fery worried about it, because zis stupid accident may hafe sefere consequences... Ze Muggles must hafe asked zemselves many questions..."

"No, no, no, don't worry" Cherry answered, gently patting Axelle on her shoulder. "I'm sure that when the Muggles saw it was Axelle Kraft who was running with her trolley to hit the barrier, they immediately understood, and didn't worry at all."

"What do you imply?" Axelle roared.

"Nothing at all, of course! Please, keep telling us your story!" Cherry said.

"Yes, so... Where was I? Ah, yes! So, as I was lyink on ze ground, I tried to get up – in ze most decent and suitable way I could manage, for a girl who had just zrown herself to ze ground –, and I looked at ze numbers of the platforms I had tried to go zrough: the signs indicated ze platforms 8 and 9... I was between ze wrong platforms!"

"Now" Cat said, while everyone in the cab burst out laughing, "that doesn't surprise me _at all!_ "

"I know..."

The four girls spent the rest of the morning joking and chatting happily. As the Hogwarts Express continued its journey towards the North, wild landscapes could be seen through the windows – heathlands and distant hills, shadowed by the grey clouds in the sky. Naturally, Cat, Axelle and Anna had to listen to Cherry's usual long speeches about the O.W.L.s, the exams they would have at the end of the school year. With a slight sadistic joy, she insisted on the fact that the O.W.L.s were very difficult, and that, in order to pass them, they had to start preparing at least six or seven months before the exams. Besides, the O.W.L.s were exams of the greatest importance, so, roughly speaking, if you failed them, you were screwed.

"So, you see, Axelle" Cherry said. "You'll have to work more seriously. Otherwise, it will be very hard for you... Personally, I think I'm going to pass them."

"Sure..." Anna said, with a suspicious glance.

"Let me remind you that I'm top of the class!"

"Don't you have a little superiority complex?"

"Me? Oh... Maybe... Yes, in fact" Cherry answered, with a stupid smile.

Then, Cherry began talking about Sirius Black (Cat, Axelle and Anna never knew how their friend had managed to go from the topic of the O.W.L.s to the topic of Sirius Black, as they had already stopped listening to her for some time) and she explained how hard it was to escape from the Azkaban Prison. For the first time in her life, she couldn't find any solution that could solve this mystery. At one o'clock in the afternoon, Cherry was warning her friends (lying on their seats, asleep) that this dangerous murderer, now walking freely, could be anywhere, even on this train!

As if by coincidence, the door of the cab suddenly opened, and Cherry, believing that what she had just prophesied was really happening, screamed and woke up the other girls. But, obviously, it was not Sirius Black who was standing at the door. It was an elderly little witch who was pushing a trolley containing a whole lot of sweets and beverages. By the time Cherry came to her senses and realised that it was actually time for lunch, Cat and Anna had already in their hands dozens of Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes and other sweets of all kinds. Axelle, however, didn't take anything, as she was on strict diet.

"Do you hafe some apricots?" she simply asked.

"Er..." the witch said, rummaging mechanically through her trolley.

"No, Axelle, I don't think that the trolley-lady has apricots..." Cat explained.

"Oh? Too bad..."

The elderly witch left the four friends alone, shutting the door behind her. Cat, Anna and Cherry literally gulped down the pack of sweets they had bought, having no mercy for the poor Chocolate Frogs, even less for the Pepper Imps.

"Anyway, I prefer Salt Imps" Axelle said, turning her head away from this scandalous demonstration of gluttony.

Nevertheless, even if all these candies were delicious, Cat had the strange sensation that they weren't as good as the chocolate this teacher – whose name she couldn't even remember – had offered her. No, certainly not. The chocolate of the Chocolate Frogs wasn't as exquisite as the chocolate she had eaten a few hours earlier. But that was something her friends couldn't know, because they hadn't been as lucky as Cat. For once, she was a step ahead...

"By the way, I haven't seen Harry Potter yet..." Cherry said. "I heard he was accompanied to the station by the Minister for Magic himself!"

"That clearly wouldn't happen to me..." Cat complained.

"No, alas" Anna confirmed, with the same desperate tone in her voice. "Nobody cares about your miserable little life..."

"What about having a walk through the wagons, to try to see Harry?" Cherry proposed.

Frankly, Cat didn't feel like it at all. She preferred by far staying here, in her cab, than hanging around in the corridors, looking for someone she didn't care about. Harry Potter this, Harry Potter that... Okay, Harry Potter was starting his third year in Hogwarts, okay. But she, Cathie Mist, was starting her fifth year, and she had to pass the O.W.L.s in June, and nobody cared!

"Oh, I'd preferred to go and see Cedric Diggory, if you don't mind" Axelle said, smiling.

"Ah, you're right! He's so cute!" Cherry replied. "I wonder if he already has a girlfriend... If not, I would love to be his girlfriend! But you, Axelle, didn't you tell me you were already dating someone?"

"Er... Yes, probably. But I don't remember which one I told you about, I'fe had so many boyfriends lately..."

"But you're currently dating someone, right?"

"Currently? No... I must hafe broken up wiz ze last one, whose name I can't remember anymore, a few days ago, I beliefe..."

"What about you, Cherry?" Anna asked. "Do you have someone special in mind?"

"To save me from celibacy?" Cherry said, joking. "Hmmm, I'd say Cedric Diggory... But Fred Weasley is not bad either!"

"What?" Axelle shouted. "Fred Weasley? Didn't you tell me it was George?"

"No, it's Fred Weasley, I think..."

"No, no, no! _I_ am interested in Fred Weasley! _You_ are interested in George! So you leafe my Fred to me, and you take your George, okay?"

"You must be confusing the two Weasleys, there's no other explanation... I was certain I had talked to you about Fred..."

"Oh!" Anna interrupted. "In any case, who cares? They both look the same!"

"Are you crazy?" Cherry said. "They don't look the same at all! On his left cheek, Fred has one more freckle than George!"

"Yes" Axelle confirmed. "You're totally wrong, Anna. Isn't it obvious zat George is more red-haired zan Fred?"

"Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing all the gossip again!" Cherry said. "And I also hope I'm gonna find someone. Honestly, I couldn't live without a boyfriend! Can you imagine? Spending all my life without having..."

At this point, the conversation ended for Cat, as she was already feeling sick of it and didn't want to hear more. It was always the same: whenever the discussion was about the famous topic of boyfriends, Cat was bored to death and was quickly disconnecting from the others, purely and simply because she wasn't interested and had nothing to say. It was the only topic which made her feel left out, lagging behind the others: love. Love, love... As if somehow this could be called love. Always the same lexical field, the same words: boyfriend, cute, handsome, date, break up, kiss... Really? There was love in that? Cat couldn't say – so she couldn't deny it – because she didn't know what love was.

One day, she was asked if she had already fallen in love in her life. She had to lie and answer: "Yes, of course!", so that her friends wouldn't think she was too heartless. Otherwise, it would have raised a scandal. "What? You've never fallen in love? That's not possible! That's unbelievable! That's inconceivable!". Yet, it was the truth, as sad as it could seem. In all her life, Cathie Mist had never felt love for a boy, and, by the way, nobody had ever been attracted to her. She made do with it, she told herself it was better like this, she was free, she could do whatever she wanted, she didn't need anyone. But she couldn't deny it: sometimes, even often, she felt depressed by her miserable situation. She even cried when she thought no one would ever be interested in her, and when she heard her friends always telling the same stories about their first kiss, their first this, their first that.

Nobody knew if Cat was relieved when the train began to slow down – which, by the way, ended the boring discussion of the three other girls. But she was certainly surprised.

"We'fe already arrifed?" Axelle asked naively.

"I don't think so" Cat said at last, leaning towards the window. "It's way too early..."

The window through which Cat was trying to look was completely obscured by the darkness reigning outside and the rain pounding against the glass. Above her head, next to the luggage net, the lights had turned on, as well as the lights in the corridor. And the Hogwarts Express was still braking, the squeaking of its wheels against the rails becoming louder and louder. This squeaking was almost terrifying with the howling of the wind.

"Maybe a student realised he had forgotten somezing in Kink's Cross station, and asked ze train drifer to stop, so zat he could quickly go and get back what he's forgotten..."

Axelle's friends stared at her with incredulous eyes.

"Maybe" Anna confirmed eventually. "Maybe this student's name is Axelle Kraft, and what she's forgotten is her head..."

Before the German girl could reply with a violent punch (which Anna would have dodged anyway), the train suddenly stopped, and the cat basket with Plumpshanks in it tumbled from the luggage net and fell on Cat's head.

"OUUUUUUUUUUCH!" Cathie screamed, since she had brutally received twenty pounds on her skull.

The basket finally broke open on the floor, while Cat was holding her head with her hands, moaning terribly, her eyes shut, curled up on herself, suffering atrociously.

"Cat? Cat? Are you okay?"

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Cathie yelled.

As if it wasn't bad enough, all the lights suddenly turned off, and the whole train was plunged into darkness.

"It's pitch black here!"

"We can't see anything!"

"I'm afraiiiiid!"

"Aaaaah! I'm huuuuuurt!"

"Meow!"

Panicking, Cherry wiped the window with the palm of her hand and stuck her nose against the glass, to try to see something.

"That's strange..." she said. "It looks like there are people getting on the train..."

"Let me see" Anna said, lying on Cherry to reach the window.

"Ouch! You're squashing me!"

"Maybe it's a student who missed ze Hogwarts Express, or a student we forgot in Kink's Cross" Axelle proposed.

"Or maybe" the silver-haired girl began, returning to her seat, "maybe it's your head, that you forgot, and which is coming back."

"Anna, you're lucky it's dark and we can't see anyzink, ozerwise you would already hafe receifed a punch in _your_ head!" Axelle threatened.

"So much violence..."

"Hey, girls!" Cherry said. "Are you sure Cat is still here? I can't hear her anymore!"

"Yes, yes, I can hear her" Axelle answered. "She's right next to me, she's makink strange noises..."

"Ah... She's still agonizing..." Cherry noted, listening more careful to the death rattle that could be heard in the background noise.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Anna said. "If there are people getting on the train, maybe it's for me! You know, the Monster Book of Monsters that I got for free... The seller may have made a mistake by giving it to me without me spending a Sickle... Maybe I had to buy it... So he sent his men to find me back in the Hogwarts Express, take back the book, or force me to pay..."

Anna's voice was trembling, her eyes were already wide open in terror. But no laughter, no mockery answered to her fear. Instead, there was a highly tense silence, only disturbed by Cat's moaning.

"Or maybe" Axelle began, "maybe zey're comink for me. Zey may be agents from ze Department of Magical Law, who heard about ze accident I had this mornink in Kink's Cross. I mean: I drew ze attention of dozens of Muggles by smashing head down against a metallic barrier. Maybe zey're comink to arrest me for zis mess..."

"Girls" Cherry said with a determined voice, "don't worry. These people who are getting on the Hogwarts Express are not coming for you. They're certainly coming for me. I didn't dare to tell you earlier, but owning a Fanged Geranium is illegal. It's an endangered and protected species. Laws about Fanged Geraniums are very strict. So these people are surely coming to arrest _me_."

At this moment, the door of the cab opened wide. The four girls turned their heads towards the entry at the same time (yes, even Cat who had just recovered a bit) and stared at the darkness, trying to see what was standing at the threshold. There was somebody – or at least something – who was standing there. A very tall creature, whose face was hidden behind a black mask, and entirely wrapped in a dark and large cloak. Long torn pieces of fabric were floating around its body, moving so slowly that time seemed to have slowed down.

"Who's there?" Cherry asked, folding her eyes to try to see better. "Whoever you are, at least, take off your mask, so we can recognize you!"

The gloomy creature moved its arm very slightly, revealing, between folds of tissue, a repulsive hand. A viscous and grey hand, with protruding black veins, and rotten and decayed skin.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Axelle screamed, with tears suddenly spurting out of her horrified eyes.

"It's a... it's a..." Anna stuttered, with the same horror in her eyes.

"A De... a De... a Dededementor!" Cat finally stammered.

The said Dementor moved a bit closer into the cab, its frightening death rattle becoming clearer. It was breathing slowly and heavily, as if it was sucking thick air and had very bad lungs (beware: smoking seriously harms health). In addition to that raucous noise, a hiss could now be heard, coming from nowhere – or, more precisely, from Cat's feet. Plumpshanks had apparently left his broken basket and was now hissing with terror towards the Dementor, showing his canines, with his whiskers raised around his nose.

"Plumpshanks!" Cat called. "Stay calm! Come here! Come here!"

Cathie leant towards the floor and fumbled in the dark with her hands, in order to find her cat and grasp him (by his fat bulges). She caught him with some difficulties, then lifted him with even more difficulties and tried to keep him on her lap. But the red cat was still hissing and struggling between the hands of his mistress, who was doing her best not to let him go.

"Meow!"

"Calm down, Plumpshanks! And stop wriggling, for Merlin's sake!" Cat complained, still struggling with her pet.

Plumpshanks mewed louder than ever, so loud that it sounded like the roar of a lion.

He was truly frantic, his eyes almost popping out, his ears pinned back. He was striking the air with his claws, moving his paws very fast, lacerating Cat's arms.

"AAAAAAAAAARG!" the witch screamed again, fighting the mad cat.

Her forearms were bloody and slashed. One of Plumpshanks's paws passed closed to Cat's left eye, and the other one nearly struck her mouth. But she finally got scratched and ended up with two little cuts on her right cheek.

As Cat was fighting her pet, the three other girls were in a state of panic.

"No! Please! Not me!" Anna begged, literally squashing Cherry to try to leave her seat and get as far as possible from the foul creature. "I've done nothing wrong, I swear! Okay, I didn't buy this Monster Book of Monsters, but it's only because the bookseller gave it to me for free!"

"And I didn't hit ze barrier of ze Platform Eight and Zree-Quarters on purpose!" Axelle said. "I'fe only confused ze two barriers, zat's all! I don't deserfe Azkaban! No! Not Azkaban!"

"I have nothing to hide, I tell you!" Cherry protested. "You can do a body search on me, I stole nothing! I didn't commit any crime! You're losing your time, really!"

"Alright, I have to admit I was a bit surprised when the bookseller said he was giving me the Monster Book for free. But what could I do? I accepted, of course! I didn't know he was then going to change his mind... So, if you insist, I accept to pay it now. All I need to do is find back my purse..."

"I know some Muggles saw me smashing ze barrier wiz my trolley, but zey really weren't zat many! Two, at ze most! … Okay, okay, zey were fife... Aaaaah! No, please, don't take out your hand! Alright, alright, zey were ten! So what? It's only zeir fault if zey saw me! Zey just had to turn zeir heads away!"

"Very well, I'll confess! I own a Fanged Geranium without right. I know it is illegal to own it because it's a protected species. I recognize I've committed a crime. You can handcuff me and take me to Azkaban. I also give you back the Fanged Geranium. But, please, I beg you: don't hurt it!"

Cherry grasped the plant pot from the windowsill and gave the carnivorous plant to the Dementor. The Fanged Geranium then let out a powerful roar, coming from the deepest part of its stem, which sounded a bit like this:

"GROOOOAAAAAAAR!"

All of a sudden, by an unexplained and inexplicable phenomenon, the Dementor produced a louder death rattle, which could be interpreted as a death rattle of fear, before floating backwards, getting out of the cab and shutting the door brutally. The creature then left the corridor, and only a long and deep silence remained... Everything had suddenly calmed down, no more noise, no more scream, but only four faces totally amazed and haggard.

"Well..." Anna said, breaking the silence, "I think we can all thank Cherry's Fanged Geranium!"


	3. With a cauldron on the head

**Chapter 3  
** _With a cauldron on the head_

That morning, Anna's owl had gone back to his good old habits and had started hooting happily, waking up everyone, as if it was a cuckoo clock. Aquila didn't really sound like an eagle, but that didn't bother Anna, as long as her pet could be used as a clock and avoid her being late for the first class in the morning.

Therefore, all the girls in the Ravenclaw Girls' Dormitory had to get up, get dressed, then went down to the Common Room and left the west side of Hogwarts to go to the Great Hall. All... except one. One girl who had not heard the hooting of the clock. One girl who had been too stunned by the events of the evening before: the Dementors getting on the Hogwarts Express (looking for Sirius Black), the late arrival of the train to Hogsmeade station and the Sorting ceremony for the first years. One girl who had been literally knocked out by a cat basket of twenty pounds that had fallen on her head... All of this had exhausted her, and, one hour after everyone had got up, Cathie Mist was still sound asleep, wrapped in the warm and sweet blankets of her canopy bed. Yes, everything was fine, except that the next class was starting in fifteen minutes...

"Cat! Cat! Get up! Wake up!" Axelle had just come back in the girls' dormitory to see if her friend was still there. "Today, Tuesday, September 2, first day of school! Cat! Class is startink soon! Maybe you should get up! Ca-aaat! Did you hear what I said? Okay, fery well, you leafe me no choice: I'm goink to sink you a little sonk to wake you up! Kindlein, Kindlein, tief im Waaald! Glaub mir, nichts ist bös gemeiiint! Ein Samen fiel zu tief im Eiii!"

"Raaaaaah! Shut up!"

"Hey! Here you are! You're awake! Any more and I would hafe shaken your bed to make you fall from it!"

"Any more and I would have thought there was an earthquake in Hogwarts..." Cat added, sitting up straight on her mattress.

Her mid-length hair was totally messy and her chocolate-brown eyes were half covered by sleepy and heavy eyelids.

"Okay, Cat, now you're awake, maybe you should go and get dressed!" Axelle advised, sitting casually on an empty bed. "Our first class starts in ten minutes!"

"WHAT?" Cat shouted, jumping from her bed. "Why haven't you said it sooner?"

"Zat's what I'fe been tryink to tell you for fife minutes..." Axelle answered, with suspicious eyes. "And you're lucky I went back to ze dormitory to see if you had woken up. Cherry and Anna didn't even bozer to do so. By now, zey must already be waitink in front of ze dungeons..."

"Graaah! Traitors! Boot-lickers! They'll pay for this!" Cat grunted, searching frantically in her bag to find her clothes. "The dun... The dun... The dungeons?" she then stammered, a bit late. "But... What is our first class, this morning?"

"Potions..."

"POTIONS?" Cat repeated with a shout that could be heard in all the west side of Hogwarts. "Oh no, oh no! I'm lost! I'm dead! I'm gonna be late! Snape's gonna give me a detention! A detention for the very first day of class! Obviously, my mother will hear of my disgrace, she'll send me a Howler, and I'll get noticed again!"

Cat looked so miserable and desperate that she didn't seem to know where to go anymore. With her witch robe and other (under)clothes in her arms, she was taking short and quick paces in one direction, then in the other one, and all of this looked like a kind of small frantic and ridiculous dance.

"Cat" the German girl called with concern, "ze bazroom is zis way..."

"I know!" Cat retorted with a feverish voice, folding her eyes with annoyance.

Then, she disappeared at the speed of light in the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Within no more than two minutes, her crazy yells could be heard in the dormitory once again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRG! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY FACE?!"

Thanks to the mirror in the bathroom, Cat had obviously discovered the two small scratches on her right cheek. Had she forgotten that her cat had scratched her the evening before? No, but she had forgotten how two scars could be ugly on her face...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRG! AND MY ARMS! THAT'S JUST TERRIBLE!"

Now, Cat had obviously noticed the multiple scars on her forearms. But, honestly, how could she not have seen the critical state of her lacerated skin earlier?

"Plumpshanks! We need to talk!"

Five minutes later, the door of the bathroom opened violently, and a distraught girl appeared, dressed with her black and blue hooded robe. Beneath her robe, she was wearing a white shirt, covered by a dark grey sweater. She also had a dark grey skirt, even if she hated skirts...

"My tie! My tie! Where did I put my tie?" Cat strangely jumped up and down, as if her bounces could help her have a better view of the whole dormitory and find her tie more easily.

Axelle, for her part, was staring at her friend with growing concern.

"Help me, for Merlin's sake! Or are you just going to stand here and watch?" Cat shouted to the blond girl.

"What's ze use of lookink for your tie, as you know as well as I do zat you won't even manage to tie it?"

"Ah! Here it is! I've found it!" Cat exclaimed, pointing her finger at the foot of her bed, then rushing straight to her couch.

 _BOOM!_ The girl sprawled on the ground, her face crushed and her two arms stretched forward. As usual, she had tripped over Plumpshanks. The big red cat walked quietly to the head of her mistress – who was miserably lying on her stomach – and sat next to her, gazing at her with his beautiful innocent green eyes.

"What are you doing here, you?" Cat grunted between her clenched teeth.

"As far as I recall, you called him when you were in ze bazroom" Axelle explained. "He must hafe heard you and decided to come..."

"That's the first time Plumpshanks ever answers to one of my calls..."

* * *

In spite of everything, Cat and Axelle got lucky. First, when they hurried down the stairs, they didn't miss any step. Secondly, they didn't meet Peeves the poltergeist on their way. And, last but not least, when they arrived to the dungeons... the other fifth years from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were still there, waiting in the corridor for Professor Snape's arrival.

"I don't understand" Cherry complained, as she was leaning against the rock wall, looking at her watch. "We've been waiting here for twenty minutes, and Professor Snape should have arrived five minutes ago..."

As Axelle joined Cherry and Anna in the line, Cat knelt in the middle of the corridor, raised her head and opened her arms to the ceiling, thanking Merlin for his mercy and for making Professor Snape late.

"Thank you, Merlin! Thank you!" Cat moaned, wiping off her tears with her blue-and-silver-striped tie.

When she was finally done, she stood up, picked up her bag and her cauldron and joined her friends in the line.

"Er... Are you sure we know this girl?" Anna asked to Cherry, stepping away from Cat, as if she was suffering from a communicable disease (commonly referred to as madness).

"Are you planning to keep your tie in your hand the whole day?" Cherry asked.

"No" Cat answered. "I'll try to tie it at noon."

"Ahrr! By ze way, Cat!" Axelle suddenly exclaimed. "Look at what I bought!"

The German girl brandished a huge copper cauldron with both her hands. It was a brand-new cauldron, with a smooth and glittering surface.

"Oooooh! A new cauldron!" Cat said happily. "That's wonderful!"

"Isn't it?" Axelle added. "Today, I'm gonna use it for ze first time in Potions class! So, you know what we hafe to do, now!"

"Yessss! The cauldron's baptism! Here we goooo!"

"Oh no, for Merlin's sake, they're doing it again..." Cherry commented.

The two girls turned their cauldrons over to get rid of the books and the other things they contained. Once they had discharged their contents on the ground, Cat and Axelle raised their kettles and put them on their heads. The result was rather funny: it was as if they had a cauldron instead of the head. They couldn't see anything anymore, they couldn't hear much more, and their voices were resonating with multiple echoes inside the cauldrons.

"Sure! You look smarter with a cauldron on the head!" Cherry noted with some wry humour.

"Er... Axelle? I can't see you! Where are you?" Cat called, fumbling the air with her hands.

"I'm on your right, I zink..." a metallic voice answered.

"Oh! Okay! So, you're ready?"

"Ready!"

"Here we goooo!"

The two witches then rushed towards each other and deliberately banged their heads (protected by the cauldrons) with a huge _KLANG!_ that rang in the whole corridor. Voilà! That was the cauldron's baptism. Funny, wasn't it? But what was going to happen next was something Cat and Axelle had not anticipated, and it was not funny at all...

"Silence, here!" a cold and threatening voice suddenly said. "Move aside, two by two."

Taken aback, Cat and Axelle acted unconsciously, staggering like two drunk turtles, stretching their arms forward and fumbling the air with their hands, like two myopic moles, trying to join their comrades in the line as quick as possible. All they had to do was take off their cauldrons, but they were so panicked that they didn't think about that option, and that was their biggest mistake, because someone got close to them and pronounced the spell:

" _Perpetuo viscum!_ … All of you, get in the classroom and wait in silence."

Cat and Axelle could hear footsteps and realised that all the students were getting in the dungeons, while they stayed in the corridor, because they apparently had a slight problem.

"Hey, Cat! You won't beliefe it!" Axelle exclaimed anxiously. "I can't take off my cauldron! My head is stuck in it!"

"Of course!" Cat answered with a frustrated voice. "Some idiot cast a Permanent Sticking Charm, to stick the cauldrons on our heads..."

"Zat's strange" Axelle added with concern, "because ze foice of zis idiot sounded a lot like Professor Snape's foice..."

"Er... Er... You think so?" Cat stammered, as if her voice was being paralysed.

"Well, zere's only one way to be sure: let's hear it again! Please, sir, could you speak a little more, so we could identify you?"

"Very well..." the cold male voice answered. "So it will be twenty points from Ravenclaw, for disrespect for a teacher."

"Ah... So it _is_ Professor Snape's voice..." Cat concluded.

"You see!" Axelle exclaimed happily. "I was right! It's really him!"

"Axelle, shut up... I think we're screwed."

"And, let me think..." Snape continued with his fearful voice. "Ten points from Ravenclaw for degradation and bad use of the cauldrons..."

"Zat is _not_ true!" Axelle strongly protested. "Did you see how smooz my cauldron is? It's brand-new! I bought it only two days ago! You can touch it, go on!"

Persuaded that she was walking towards Snape, Axelle came closer to the wall and finally hit it with another ringing _KLANG!_ , before she dangerously staggered backwards.

"Silence!" the potions master roared. "Will you keep quiet, once and for all? I didn't think Ravenclaws could equal Gryffindors on the scale of idiocy. Well, thanks to you, I've realised I was wrong... Or maybe your innate gift for wisdom and reflexion told you it could be interesting to have a closer look at the inside of a kettle? As it seems to particularly arouse your curiosity, you'll write for next Wednesday three rolls of parchment about cauldrons and their history, from the date of their creation to the different types of existing cauldrons, including the different kinds of metal used to make them, and their vulnerabilities to certain toxic ingredients. Meanwhile, as you seem delighted to have found a new clothing style, you can join your classmates to show them how good you look with a cauldron on the head. Come on! I'll take it off only once you've entered the classroom!"

Without trying to answer nor to protest – as they knew it would be useless –, Cat and Axelle followed Snape's orders and began to walk with shaky steps, trying to find the entry door to the dungeons. Their attempt was totally disastrous. It was beyond ridiculous. The two witches were stretching their arms forwards, like mummies, to protect themselves from a potential obstacle. They were turning in circles, staggering under the appalled gaze of Snape, who was beginning to wonder whether he had had a good idea. A few other _KLANG!_ punctuated this preposterous parade, when the two girls met each other or embraced a wall.

Axelle eventually ended up at the far end of the corridor, on the opposite way to the classroom, still walking away in what she believed was the right direction. Cat, for her part, had stayed at the same place, spinning around under Snape's nose.

"Very well, that's enough!" he finally said with anger.

"No, no, wait! I'm sure we'll end up finding this door!" Cat assured, walking precariously towards him. "Here! You see? I think I've just found a student! Look! I can feel him, I can touch him!"

"It's me, you idiot!" Snape scolded with an icy tone.

Indeed, Cat's hands were on Snape's chest, and she was stroking his black button-up coat.

"Oh... Pardon me! I'm so sorry!" Cat quickly moved away, turning red under her cauldron.

" _Finite incantatem!_ " Snape pronounced, raising his wand to Cat's helmeted head, then to Axelle's. "Take this off, pick up your things and get in the classroom immediately! And make sure this kind of event doesn't happen again, is that understood?"

"Understood..." the two girls answered with ashamed little voices.

As expected, when they entered the dungeons, they didn't have any difficulty to find their places: there were only two empty seats left, and these were right in the middle of the first row, precisely in front of Snape's desk. They tried to keep a low profile while sitting down, which could not have been possible if Snape had let their cauldrons on their heads. Then, the teacher entered the classroom furiously and brutally shut the door behind him.

"Today you'll learn – or at least I expect so – how to prepare Baruffio's Brain Elixir" Snape said.

Right in front of him, Cat stifled a laugh. Snape threw her a dark look.

"Is there something funny, Miss Mist?"

This time, it was too much for Cat. It was a true burst of laughter that she tried to disguise by pressing her hand against her mouth. But Axelle couldn't help herself from laughing. Every time Snape called Cat "Miss Mist", the two girls couldn't help giggling. The two words "Miss" and "Mist" sounded so much alike that, when Snape was saying them in a row, it was rather funny.

"At first, I had thought to make you prepare a Calming Draught for those two hysterical girls" he continued, "but I think Baruffio's Brain Elixir will be more appropriate, considering the deplorable state of their brains. Such an elixir, even if it's failed, will certainly make them recover some neurons, as I'm convinced it can't be worse."

So, the students spent the whole hour doing their best to prepare the most drinkable Baruffio's Brain Elixir as possible. Two Ravenclaws, in particular, were applying themselves, as they had to taste it afterwards. Cat and Axelle were meticulously stirring the contents of their cauldrons, making sure that the temperature was not too high. In short, they were working with all their hearts. At the end of the class, staring at the result of their work, they realised that they had never, ever managed to make such a good-looking potion. As they were about to taste it, they put a ladle in their cauldrons, when Snape's voice came from the back of the classroom:

"You two! You'll have a taste of Miss Bean's Elixir."

Suspecting some kind of trap, Cat, for once, was smarter than Axelle, and faster to react. She took a large amount of Elixir in her ladle, raised it to her lips and drank it in one go.

"Too late! I've already tasted mine!" she replied, with a big smile on her face and an almost singing voice, as Snape was coming with Anna's cauldron in his hands.

The teacher gave Cat one of his most infuriated and darkest looks, a look that could have killed a too sensitive soul. He brutally put the cauldron on Cat and Axelle's table, which was splashed with some drops of the slimy and greenish liquid inside. Axelle naively bent over the new kettle and looked with disgust at its stinky content.

"Baaah!" she said, making a face. "Zat zing is not drinkable! It's a failed potion!"

"Precisely" Snape retorted, with a spark in his eyes. "By drinking it, you'll be able to tell us what's wrong with this potion: if some ingredients should have been added, or if it should have been prepared otherwise."

So, what Cat had suspected was true, and she could be proud that she had managed to avoid Snape's trap so fast. What surprised her, though, was that Snape hadn't insisted more to make her drink the Elixir. He could very well have told her to have a second drink. But no. He preferred to prey on one of the girls only – Axelle, in that case –, and filled a ladle to the brim with the nasty liquid, before he raised the ladle towards the blond girl. Axelle moved back with her chair by a self defense instinct and knocked her back against the table behind her.

"Noooooo, no way! I won't drink it!'

As she kept struggling stubbornly, the other students were wasting their break time (since everyone had to stay to see the effects of the failed potion on Axelle), and the dungeons were resounding with screams of horror and supplication: "No, no! Please! Not zis! I won't drink it! I'd razer die! You'll poison me!", while Snape was trying in vain to make her gulp the Elixir. It was only when he threatened Axelle to ask her to write ten more rolls of parchment about the cauldrons that the poor girl gave in. With a disgusted face, closing her eyes with revulsion, she drank the whole greenish content of the ladle.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRG! I'M GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" she screamed when she finally got out of the dungeons.

"Hmmm" Cat said, unconvinced. "Strangely, I don't feel smarter than before... Maybe my intelligence was already reaching its full potential."

"Hey! Easy!" Cherry exclaimed, as she was following her two friends. "You forget that _I_ am the one with a superiority complex!"

"Ah! You're here!" Cat said, turning around and noticing Cherry's presence. "So, what's the next class?"

"Well...I'm going to Arithmancy."

"Arithmancy?" Cat repeated. "But... It's your optional class... which means I'm not going with you... Axelle! What's our next class?"

"Aaaaaaaaaarrrg" Axelle groaned, holding her throat with both her hands, as if she was strangling herself.

"Oh, Axelle, come on!" Cat said, getting angry. "If you had really been poisoned, you'd be dead a long time ago."

"Okay, okay..." Axelle said as she stopped pretending. "So, if Cherry is goink to Arizmancy – an optional class zat she chose in her zird year and zat we didn't choose –, it means we are goink to ze optional class zat we chose!"

"Er... Yes... It helps a lot, Axelle" Cat said ironically. "I'm all the more satisfied to see that Baruffio's Brain Elixir has had some positive effect on your thinking skills."

"Stop mocking me, Cat! We're goink to Difination."

"WHAT?" Cat cried out. "Divination? But it's at the top of the North Tower! And we're next to the dungeons, in the basement! We'll need at least twenty minutes to go up there... And you, stop laughing at us!" she told Cherry, who was hilarious. "Well, well, well" she continued, getting more and more annoyed. "For now, all I can say is that our schedule sucks. Wednesday morning: Potions, Divination... Is there at least something good for the rest of the day?"

"Well, after zat, it's lunch time..." Axelle answered, with her head bent over the tiny piece of paper where she had written her schedule.

"Tell me more..."

"Defense Against the Dark Arts..."


	4. Common scars

**Chapter 4  
** _Common scars_

"394... 395... 396... Hank on! We're almost zere!" Axelle said, panting.

She and Cat were climbing the spiral stairs which led to the top of the North Tower.

"Aaaaaaaarg! I can't do any more!" Cat complained, exhausted.

She was leaning forward so much that she could even put her hands on the staircase and crawl up the stairs.

"Sometimes I enfy Cherry and Anna who chose Arizmancy and Study of Ancient Runes, instead of Difination... 401... 402... 403..."

"The biggest mistake of my life!" Cat added. "Choosing Divination as an optional class in third year. When I think I believed this course would be useful..."

"At least, we always hafe a good laugh during the lessons! 409... 410... 411..."

"Yes, that's right! Just the sight of the teacher's face, and I'm already laughing out loud!" Cat confirmed.

"I'm lookink forward to seeink her reaction when she sees us enterink her classroom twenty minutes late... 999... 1000... 1001..."

"Er... Are you sure you didn't miss some steps?" Cat asked, a bit worried.

When the two young witches finally arrived at the top of the stairs, Cat literally collapsed to the ground, her arms outstretched. But Axelle was already climbing up the small silver ladder to go through the circular trapdoor.

"Aaaaaaaarg!" Cat moaned again, trying to get up from the floor. "It looks like an obstacle course! I don't even have time to take a breath!"

Not only didn't she have the time to breathe, but she didn't have the possibility either, because as soon as she got out of the trapdoor and entered Professor Trelawney's classroom, a sickening smell of incense attacked her nose and her throat and went straight to her head.

"Kof kof kof kof kof kof kof! Aaaaaaaarg! It's suffocating, here!" she yelled, sinking into a pouffe, as if she really couldn't stand up anymore.

"It's too hot, in zere!" Axelle added, before she sat on a chintz armchair, in front of a small round table. "I'm sweatink like a pik!"

The two Ravenclaws suddenly stopped complaining, as they had the strange feeling that they were the only ones who were speaking. They looked anxiously around them, to check if the circular and dimly lit room was really occupied. They realised that most of the students who were there had their eyes fixed on them, and were watching them with a mix of concern and surprise. But the worst was Professor Trelawney. Standing in front of the two newcomers, she was scrutinizing them with her huge and bulging eyes, frighteningly enlarged by her big glasses. She was joining her skinny hands, full of all kinds of bracelets and rings, and she was leaning a bit forward, to have a better look at the two latecomers, who felt more and more embarrassed in front of this searching gaze. "What does she want?"Cat asked herself. "Do I hafe a pimple on my nose, or what?" Axelle wondered. Then Sybill Trelawney slowly shook her head from left to right, with the rattling sound of the pearls of her necklaces.

"You see!" she said with a high pitched voice full of emotion. "That's what I had foretold! Two young ladies will arrive late at their first Divination class!"

Cat and Axelle, slightly amazed, opened their mouths with stupefaction, astonished that Professor Trelawney hadn't scolded them for their late arrival, and wondering at the same time if she had truly made a prediction about their lateness.

"Well. It doesn't matter, my darlings" she said, going back to the chair she had put next to the fireplace. "Have a seat, have a seat, please."

Cat and Axelle, who were already sitting, didn't try to understand. The truth was that they were used to Trelawney's strange behaviour, and it was precisely what was making them laugh so hard.

Today's class consisted in revising the different divinatory methods that the Ravenclaws had been learning for the last two years, and today's lesson was more particularly about crystal balls. As expected from two students who had chosen the wrong optional class, Cat and Axelle were hopeless at Divination. They knew nothing, understood nothing, and didn't even take the time to try to understand. As Professor Trelawney used to say, they didn't have a hint of an Inner Eye. In brief, if they kept going to their Divination classes, it was only to have some good time and chill out.

"I see, I see..." Axelle said, with the mysterious voice of someone going into a trance, opening big blue eyes and waving her hands above her crystal ball.

"I can't see a damn thing, seriously!" Cat said angrily, shaking the transparent sphere as if it was going to make it work. "I can see nothing!"

"I see, I see..."

"This bloody ball is dirty!" Cat grumbled, cleaning hysterically the sphere with her tie.

"I see, I see..."

"And this room is so dark... No wonder I can't see anything! Professor, couldn't we open the curtains, so we could have a little more light inside?"

"You must open your mind, my darling!" Professor Trelawney answered, as she appeared right in front of Cat. "Stop relying on the first appearance, and start looking beyond! Unfogging the future!"

"That's the title of our Divination book, indeed..." Cat said with a sceptical tone. "But what can I do if my damn ball won't work? It won't work, it won't work, period! … Ah! But... Wait! Yes! That's it! I see something! I see something! I see... a... an ant! Yes! An ant! I see an ant!"

With the saddest smile and the most sympathetic look she could give her, Professor Trelawney gently patted the witch's head, before she removed with her finger the small ant which was walking on the crystal ball. Astounded by her stupidity, with her mouth and her eyes wide open, Cat stared at her transparent globe, in which she couldn't see any ant anymore...

"Gosh!" she said, a little disgusted. "I was certain I had finally managed to see something in this crystal ball..."

" I see... I see..." Axelle kept saying tirelessly.

"What do you see, my child?" Trelawney asked with her soft voice.

"I see... I see... A crystal ball!"

* * *

When the school bell rang at noon, all the students in the classroom picked up their things with an obvious rapidity, which could only show their haste to leave the room and go to eat. Once again, Cat and Axelle had survived the Divination class. It had been tiresome, but they had survived. And they had had fun, too.

As they were the last two students in the classroom, they were about to leave the room with relief, when Cat felt something that suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her backward.

"KYAAAH!" she yelled, as she saw Professor Trelawney savagely taking hold of her wrist.

" _It will happen this afternoon!"_ the teacher said with an abnormally rough voice. "Gaaaaahhh..." she gasped, catching her breath, her mouth wide open.

"Cat? Do you want me to call ze nurse?" Axelle panicked, whereas her friend was totally paralysed.

" _This afternoon"_ Trelawney repeated, with her eyes now rolling in their sockets, _"your next class is going to change your life! Beware not to sink into his eyes!"_

"Er... Okay... Thank you..." Cat was terrified and didn't know what else to say.

Then, Professor Trelawney finally let go of the young witch's hand – as suddenly as she had grasped it –, turned her back on her and went back to her seat by the fireplace, as if nothing had happened.

* * *

"And you'll nefer beliefe what Professor Trelawney told her, at ze end of ze class!" Axelle said joyfully, when she and her friend arrived in the Great Hall for lunch, and joined Cherry and Anna at the Ravenclaw table. "She told her, wiz a psychotic voice, zat she had to be careful, because her next class was goink to change her life!"

Cherry and Anna burst out laughing. As for Cat, she was still traumatized by what she had been through, a few minutes earlier, at the top of the North Tower. She was leaning over a plate of spaghetti bolognese (that she hadn't touched yet), with her trembling elbows on each side of the meal, burying her head in her hands.

"Cat, are you alright?" asked Anna, who sat in front of her. "Are you recovering?"

"Yes..." Cat answered, even if her back was still shivering.

"You should hafe seen ze teacher's face! I was laughink out loud! It looked like she was makink a real prediction! Hey, Cat! You're not eatink? Go on, one small bite!" she said, picking a potato with her fork and moving it towards Cat's face.

"Gnnnnn! Noooo!" Cat grunted, finally lifting her head to avoid the traveling potato.

"Ahrr... Anyway, it's too bad we still don't hafe Butterbeer for lunch! Butterbeer is so good! It comes from my country!"

"And why not Firewhisky, while you're at it?" Cherry retorted wryly, before she gulped down a bite of green beans.

"Oh, yes!" Axelle answered. "Firewhisky! Zat's a good idea!"

Cherry rolled her eyes, while Cat finally had her first bite of spaghetti. But as she was about to have a second bite, a friendly male voice sounded very close to her right ear:

"So? How was your first morning of class?"

Cat instantly turned around, before she exclaimed joyfully:

"Quackquack!"

As usual, some students turned to the witch, surprised to hear her imitate a duck. Yet, there was no mystery in that quack, no ambiguity. Quackquack was the nickname of the seventeen-year-old boy who was standing behind Cat. Yes, that was him, Vince Lindgreen, a Ravenclaw student who was starting his seventh and last year in Hogwarts. He was a tall and thin young man, with short chestnut hair and green laughing eyes. He was a fervent duck lover (hence his nickname) but, above all, he was Cat's best friend.

So delighted by this reunification, Cat stood up without thinking and threw herself into the arms of Vince for a warm hug. Beside them, Axelle, Cherry and Anna started rolling their eyes, whistling and smiling, as they still secretly thought that there was more than friendship between those two. But nooo! Even if Cat and Quackquack were singles, they were not in love with each other. They were the best friends in the world, and it was all that mattered.

"Still, aren't you ashamed to eat duck in front of me?" Vince said, with horrified eyes.

"Oh... Er... Sorry..." Cat answered, truly confused and lowering her head.

"Hey! I'm joking, of course! You don't even have duck in your plate! This is pasta!"

"Ah... Yes... You're right..." Cat noted, looking at her meal.

"Cat, what's wrong?" asked Vince, worried. "That's the first time I see you not paying attention to what's in your plate..."

"Well..." Cat began, hesitantly. "At the end of the Divination class, Professor Trelawney grasped my hand and talked to me in very strange and shocking way..."

"Oh, come on!" Cherry retorted. "It's not as if she had raped you!'

"... You can say truly disgusting things, sometimes..." Cat noted, even if she couldn't help smiling at this bad joke. "Anyway. I have to finish my shepherd's pie!"

As she sat down, her friends stared at her with true concern in their eyes.

* * *

Naturally, Vince joined the four girls and sat next to Cat, before he helped himself with some spaghetti bolognese. He was very talkative – well, maybe not as talkative as Cherry, but still talkative – and he could join the conversation very easily, which was not the case for Cat, who sometimes just preferred to listen... or fall asleep. But when Quackquack was here, she usually never felt sleepy, because, most of the time, he always made her laugh.

Time went fast, and when the bell rang at the end of the lunch break, Cat was sad to have to get up from the table. She left Vince with a friendly wave, then started to head towards the exit of the Great Hall with her friends. Then she realised that she was still holding in her left hand a piece of fabric... A blue-and-silver-striped tie. Panic-stricken, she turned over and left her friends to run back to Vince.

"Hey! Quackquack!" she shouted, rushing some students who were walking the other way. "Quackquack! Wait!"

"What's the matter?" Vince asked with round and surprised eyes, seeing her friend coming back to him.

"I forgot to ask you... if you could help me put on my tie! I still can't tie the knot by myself!" she explained, smiling.

"Aaaah..." Vince sighed, as he delicately placed the piece of fabric around her neck. "The last minute tie knot, right? You're going to be late for your next class. Et voilà! It's done!"

Cat bent her head to check if her tie was correct, then put it under her black sweater.

"Thank youuu!" she said with her nicest smile, before she ran away.

* * *

Once again, Cat had hurried up for nothing. When she arrived breathless in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, all the students were already sitting behind their desks, talking joyfully with each other... but the teacher wasn't there yet.

Cat sighed with relief and walked to Axelle's table. As she walked across the room, she took a look around her to see if there was some new decorative items. The impressive dragon skeleton was still hanging from the ceiling – a very high ceiling, by the way –, but the room, even if it had always been large, now looked even more spacious. The sun was shining on the paved floor and the stone walls, through high pointed windows on the left side of the room. At the back, a small oak desk was facing a stone staircase which led to the teacher's office. Its door was closed.

"Ah! Here you are!" Anna exclaimed, as Cat sat in front of her, on the seat that Axelle had kept for her. "You managed to put your tie? Good! I'm proud of you!"

Cat turned around to give Anna a dumb smile, then put her hand in her bag to take out her copy of _The Dark Arts Outsmarted_.

"So?" asked Cherry, who sat behind Cat and next to Anna. "Are you ready for the class that's going to change your life?"

Cat's three friends started giggling, while she was slowly and tiredly shaking her head.

"Stop mocking me!" Cat retorted. "When she told me that, Professor Trelawney was certainly thinking I had another Divination class with her, in the early afternoon..."

"Or maybe she was really talkink about Defense Against ze Dark Arts class" Axelle said, "and maybe today we're goink to study Unforgifable Curses... Maybe ze teacher will arrive and say: "Errr... Excuse me, Miss Mist, would you mind comink here to show your comrades ze Killink Curse effects?". For sure, zat's goink to change your life..."

Even Cat couldn't help laughing with the others.

"By ze way, what's ze name of zis new teacher of Defense Against ze Dark Arts?" Axelle asked, going back into serious mode.

"Well..." Cat said, raising her eyes to the dragon skeleton hung just above her head, as if it could help her think. "I don't know..."

"What? But you sat right in front of him on ze Hogwarts Express!"

"I'm glad you remember that" Cat answered, "but I don't recall his name..."

"You should eat more fish" Cherry advised, "it's good for the memory."

"All I remember is that his name ended with "Pin"..." Cat answered, frowning while she tried to concentrate. "Dupin, maybe, but I'm not sure..."

"Dupin?" Axelle seemed unconvinced. "Or maybe... Duckpin?"

"Chopin!"

"Hairpin!"

"Anyway, it doesn't matter" the blond girl finally said. "We'll go and ask him his name, at ze end of ze class."

Cat stared wearily at her friend for some time.

"Axelle, are you really that dumb? Isn't it obvious that the teacher will introduce himself and tell us his name?"

At last, the door to the teacher's office opened, and silence suddenly fell in the classroom. The adult walked carefully down the stairs, under the attentive eyes of his students. It was him. The man that Cat had met on the Hogwarts Express. The same man who was in his mid-thirties, who had chestnut hair, pale skin and mismatched clothes.

He put his old leather case on his desk, then looked at the whole classroom with his amber eyes and a faint smile. He looked a bit better than the day before. A good night of rest had probably helped him recover.

"Good afternoon" he said with a sweet and friendly voice. "Would you please put your books back in your bags, as I think we won't need them for today."

The Ravenclaws looked a bit puzzled, but obeyed all the same.

"Merlin's beard, it _does_ smell like Afada Kedafra..." Axelle whispered to Cat, who started to worry.

"Well" the teacher said cheerfully. "I suppose that few of you know who I am... Since you had the opportunity to have two different teachers of Defense Against the Dark Arts before me, I won't feel upset if you can't remember my name..."

Cat smiled, as she felt a bit concerned.

"I am Professor Lupin..."

"AH! LUPIN! THAT'S IT! YES!" a student suddenly exclaimed with a hysterical voice, banging her right fist in her left palm.

All the students looked at Cat, who literally froze, motionless, with her left hand still closed on her right fist. In a few seconds, she turned red and stammered her deepest apologies to the teacher:

"So... So... Sorry! Excuse me! I didn't mean to interrupt your lesson!"

To everyone's surprise, Professor Lupin began to laugh, which made him look a bit healthier.

"It's okay, don't worry" he assured. "As I said, I'm your new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts. You probably all know that at the end of your fifth year, you'll have to pass the O.W.L.s. So I'll try to teach you as much as possible, so that you can successfully pass your Defense Against the Dark Arts exam."

Naturally, a teacher had to do his best to help his students pass an exam. However, still few professors had expressed their will to do so with so much sincerity and sympathy as this new teacher. All the students were now looking at him kindly, with respect and interest.

"Hey! Look!" Axelle muttered in Cat's ear. "It looks like Professor Lupin has ze same scars as you on his face..."

Slightly blushing with irritation – as she didn't like being disturbed during an interesting lesson by the kind of stupid comments that her friend could make – Cat looked at Lupin's face all the same. Merlin's beard! Her heart missed a beat. It was true! His pale face was almost entirely slashed by two big scratches who seemed to have healed long ago. Even if these scars were quite discrete, you could clearly see them if you had a careful look at Lupin's face. Cat couldn't help smiling again and giggling with satisfaction. She instinctively touched her right cheek. What a coincidence! She had almost the same scars! Even if her scars were smaller and not totally healed yet. But still! It was a rather incredible point in common!

"I wonder if his cat did zis to him as well..." Axelle whispered, still looking attentively at the teacher.

"Hmmm..." Cat pondered, staring at the teacher too. "In my opinion, it's something bigger... You can see his scars are four times bigger than mine."

"Somezing bigger?" Axelle repeated, frowning. "But what?"

"Well, I don't know... A werewolf, maybe?" Cat answered with a sadistic smile, as she knew her friend was horrified with werewolves.

"Oh no! Not a werewolf!" Axelle said, with terrified eyes.

"Well" Professor Lupin had obviously not heard the whispered discussion between the two girls. "Today, for your first Defense Against the Dark Arts class, I suggest we start with a special lesson: I'd like you to find, somewhere in this castle, a Boggart. I suppose you already know what a Boggart is. You must have learnt it during your third year. Could someone remind me what a Boggart is?"

Many students raised their fingers. Naturally, you couldn't expect less from a class of Ravenclaws, who were known for their intelligence and hard work. However, Cat didn't raise her hand. First, she didn't feel like it. Secondly, she never felt very comfortable when she spoke in public. Axelle didn't raise her hand either. As she was a fake Ravenclaw who should have ended up in the Hufflepuff house, she simply didn't know the answer to the question. No, she didn't remember what a Boggart was. Her friends, Cherry and Anna, were among the student raising their fingers, and were waiting for the professor to interrogate them.

"Cherry?" the teacher finally asked.

"A Boggart is a shape-shifting creature that will assume the form of whatever most frightens the person who encounters it" Cherry answered, reciting the exact definition that was written in her Defense Against the Dark Arts book (she could also have specified the page and the line numbers, if the teacher had wanted, but, unfortunately for her, he didn't ask for those details).

"Very good! That's completely right!" he approved. "As your classmates in third year have to study the Boggarts, I need to find a specimen to show them. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to look for a Boggart in the castle yet. So, that's what we're going to do now. We'll focus our search on this floor, since I'm convinced we can find a Boggart nearby. This will make you revise somehow, and learn how to recognize a Boggart."

The teacher stopped speaking, looked at the puzzled, determined or delighted faces of his students (who were clearly not used to having such lessons), then invited them to stand up.

"Please, follow me" he said with a kind smile, walking to the door of the classroom.

The well-disciplined Ravenclaws started to follow the professor obediently, walking silently between the rows of tables, already lined up behind each other, like chicks following their mother hen. When they were in the desert corridor, Lupin gave them his last instructions.

"I checked with the other teachers and, apparently, none of them is having class on this floor at this hour. So you can inspect every classroom to see if there's a Boggart in it. However, just to be sure, knock on the door before you enter. And, above all, don't make a mess – I'm counting on you. You'll need only your eyes to look for a Boggart. These creatures like dark and secluded places, so you'd better examine carefully every corner of a room. Do you have another idea of where Boggarts can hide, in general?"

"In cupboards" Anna answered.

"Indeed! What else?"

"In wardrobes..."

"In drawers..."

"Under sinks..."

"Er... Under beds?" Cat proposed.

"Exactly!" Lupin confirmed. "One day, I even saw a Boggart hiding in an old grandfather clock. Now you know what pieces of furniture you should inspect. So, let's go! You can make groups of four – or more, if you want – to start your investigations. Of course, you'll have the whole hour for your research. Whenever you find out – or think you've found out – a Boggart, don't hesitate to call me and I'll come to check if it's really a Boggart. I'll stay nearby. Now, here we go!"

The students were somewhat taken aback by this new kind of practical course. It took them a few seconds of uncertainty before they began to scatter and to knock on doors.

In fact, Cat realised – as she and her three friends were walking towards the end of the corridor – she had never, ever had such an original lesson, during her four years in Hogwarts. It was even troubling to see how many students were smiling happily. Even Cat had never felt so cheerful during a lesson. Usually, courses were so boring... But here, it was totally different! It was the first time in her school life that she was so interested by a lesson. The idea of having to fulfill a mission – finding a Boggart – was truly exciting and sharpened her senses. Walking along desert corridors, opening doors without knowing what was behind, all of this was so thrilling. And funny, too. Making Axelle believe that a Boggart was hiding under the desk on which she had just sat, locking Anna in a dark and empty room... Cat had never laughed so much during a class! This lesson was both funny and instructive. It was undoubtedly a very good lesson, just like the teacher who had imagined it. The class had just started for a few minutes now, and Cat was already persuaded (like many other Ravenclaws) that Professor Lupin was a very good teacher. Very good, and very nice. Indeed, he seemed to have a natural kindness, of which Cat had had an overview when he had offered her some chocolate on the Hogwarts Express. Hmmm... This Mr Lupin was probably on the way of becoming the best teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts that they had never had...

"What about zis door? Hafe we tried it yet?" Axelle asked, stopping in front of a polished oak door.

"You're crazy?" Anna cried out. "It's the teachers' room! I'm not sure this one is empty..."

"And what if it is?" Cat asked, with a smile full of hope. "We could enter it, at last! For the first time in my life, I could finally see how it looks like inside!"

"You've never been to the teachers' room?" Cherry sounded surprised. "I've already been there, and, honestly, there's nothing special to see. Only a few scrubby armchairs, and an old wardrobe, at the back of the room..."

"An old wardrobe?" Axelle repeated with an excited voice. "A Boggart could fery well be hidink inside! Let's go and hafe a look at zat wardrobe right now! Here we gooo!"

The German girl suddenly kicked the door open, and it violently hit the wall nearby, with a resounding _KLANG!_

"A violent girl, that one, I've always said..." Cat mumbled, as she followed the others in the room, which was fortunately empty.

Indeed, Cherry was right: an old wardrobe was standing there, at the dark end of the room. The teachers probably stored their robes inside. Axelle got closer to the closet, walking in an exaggeratedly cautious way, convinced that a Boggart was hiding there. She tiptoed veeeeeryyyyy slooooowlyyyyy... And the three other girls, behind her, had stopped to stare at this ridiculous show.

"Don't you think you're making too much of it?" Anna asked, with a worried voice.

When Axelle arrived three feet away from the wardrobe, she finally stopped, realising that she was indeed stupid to take so many precautions.

"You're right" she said, ashamed. "In fact, it's just a good old wardrobe!"

And, to show the others that she now believed the wardrobe was harmless, she gently patted it. The wardrobe suddenly began shaking, with a loud thunder noise.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Axelle screamed, running as far as possible from the closet, with tears of terror spurting out of her eyes.

"Well, in fact, I think she wasn't wrong..." Cherry had to admit. "Professor Lupiiinnn?"

* * *

Five minutes later – the time to find Professor Lupin and to gather the Ravenclaws in the teachers' room –, everybody had their eyes fixed on the wardrobe, which was still shaking.

"At least, I hope we didn't get it wrong" Anna whispered to her three friends. "Otherwise, we'll have made everyone come here for nothing..."

However, Lupin, who was standing beside them, kept a satisfied smile on his face, which was a good sign. All the students were silently waiting for his verdict.

"That's indeed a Boggart!" he finally exclaimed with a cheerful voice. "Well done! Excellent work! I have to admit I didn't expect you to find one so fast!"

"A pure stroke of luck..." Cat thought.

"Let's see" Lupin said, pondering, "I think this will make ten points each for finding this Boggart! And thanks a lot to the others, for your involvement in the research."

A wave of joy took over the hearts of the students, and each face shone with a big smile. Without knowing why, Cat felt her heart swelling with pride, becoming lighter and rising in her chest, as if it was full of helium.

"Now, can you tell me what made you think a Boggart was hiding in there, Axelle?"

"Well, er..." the blond girl hesitated, taken aback. "Actually, when I put my hand on it, ze wardrobe started mofink..."

"Started what? Sorry, I didn't get your last word..."

"Started _moving_ " Anna translated.

"Oh! Yes, that's correct, indeed!" Lupin confirmed, to Axelle's big surprise, as she thought she had just talked rubbish. "Boggarts usually shake, whenever a living creature comes close to them. It disturbs them so much that they feel the urge to come out of their hiding places, to scare the person or animal that's getting too close. Can you remind me what the curse to defeat a Boggart is?"

" _Riddikulus!_ " the students answered with the same joyful voice.

"Perfect! Well, I think that's all for today! Thanks again and congratulations to everyone. For next time, you'll write a small summary of the different ways to recognize a Boggart."

The students left the teachers' room happily (not because they were pleased it was the end of the class, but because this lesson had been really exciting), and they went back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to get their things. As Cat was the last one to leave the teachers' room – as usual, she was at the back of the line –, she had a last and inquisitive look behind here. Professor Lupin was standing quietly with his hands in the pockets of his dark green and shabby trousers. He really seemed to feel better and looked a lot healthier. He was staring peacefully at the students who were leaving the room, and his amber eyes were almost troubled... and troubling.

"So, finally, you'fe surfifed zis Defense Against ze Dark Arts lesson!" Axelle noted, as she grabbed her bag and put it on her shoulder. "It hasn't changed your life as much as what Professor Trelawney had predicted..."

Cat only answered with a small mocking sniff and a smirk. But she didn't say anything... She was the only one who was able to judge whether Trelawney's prediction was true or not. Only _she_ knew... Of course, this lesson hadn't changed the course of her life. However, in any way, this lesson had been wonderful... And Axelle clearly didn't seem to remember the last words that Sybill Trelawney had said. Cat, for her part, still remembered them... _"B_ _eware not to sink into his eyes!"_ Why did she have the strange feeling that this sentence now made some sense?


	5. Dead leaves

**Chapter 5  
** _Dead leaves_

The first week of school went faster than expected – or, at least, faster than what Cat had expected – and this was partly due to Professor Lupin's lessons. These were so interesting and instructive that the students didn't notice how time flew in Defense Against the Dark Arts class. After some revising about the Boggarts, they had started studying the Jollyshrubs: bushes that pretended to be harmless, but that in fact were thorny and deadly plants whose only purpose was to grasp, hold tightly and suffocate anyone who got too close to them. "Nice..." Cat had thought wryly, when Lupin had explained what a Jollyshrub was. Needless to say that the Ravenclaws (and the students from the other houses as well) had never loved the Defense Against the Dark Arts course so much. At the end of the week, this class had already become the students' favourite subject.

On the following Wednesday, at half past seven in the morning, Cat, Axelle, Cherry and Anna were sitting at the Ravenclaw table, chatting, eating and giggling happily. The Great Hall was already quite animated and noisy, with the clattering of plates and the cacophony of voices. Everyone seemed to be in joyful spirits, probably because the enchanted ceiling showed a perfect blue sky and a bright sun. Wednesday, September 9th, promised to be a beautiful and sunny day. It was really tempting to go and have some fresh air in the courtyard. Maybe the four Ravenclaws would have a walk there, in the evening. Besides, they didn't have too much homework, yet... Except the two girls that had got an extra assignment from Snape, of course.

"Zree rolls of parchment about cauldrons!" Axelle exclaimed, as she was spreading apricot jam on her toast. "I can't beliefe it! Zree rolls! I spent my whole efening on it, yesterday!"

"If only you had taken care of it a bit earlier..." Cherry commented, before she sipped her Earl Grey tea.

"I've been taking care of it since Thursday morning" Cat said, between two bites of blackberry jam toast. "But I've only managed to write two out of three rolls... I did a lot of research in the library, but it didn't change anything: I didn't find anything more to say about cauldrons... And I'm still a bit worried... Professor Snape said _three_ rolls. If I only give him two, he'll give me another assignment. Have you managed to write three rolls?" she asked Axelle, anxiously.

"Hmmm?" The blond girl was drinking Butterbeer straight from the bottle (Butterbeer for breakfast? This girl was weird...). "Yes, yes, I hafe my zree rolls of parchment" she answered airily.

Cat stared at her with astonishment. Axelle? Working harder than Cat? It was pretty unusual...

"Ze truz is... Out of zree rolls, I only wrote one. Ze ozer two are blank. In fact, I added zem to hafe the desired number, and to show Professor Snape zat ze study of cauldrons is still full of mysteries, which explains ze two empty rolls of parchment. I also made a quite original presentation, in ze form of a fill-in-ze-blank exercise, so zat Snape can hafe fun findink the missink words!"

Cat, Cherry and Anna looked flabbergasted, staring at their friend with their eyes and mouths wide open. Did they get it right or was their imagination playing tricks on them? Axelle had just told them that she had written her presentation about cauldrons in the form of a cloze test, in which half of the most important details were missing? Could she be that stupid to think that Professor Snape was going to approve her original idea, which hardly hid the fact that she hadn't found any information about cauldrons?

"So, for instance..." she said, unfolding one of the three rolls of parchment that she had just taken out of her bag and spread on the table in front of her. "Ahrr, no. Zis one is ze empty one..."

Cat looked at her friend with more and more concern in her eyes, noting that Axelle had not sorted out her rolls, and wondering whether her three rolls weren't actually all blank.

"Here it is! Zat's ze one!" Axelle brutally unfolded another roll, and started reading what she had written in it. "Cauldrons were infented by Mr Cauldron in ze year: suspension points, in brackets: fill in ze blank."

Cat, Cherry and Anna were overwhelmed with consternation. None of them could find anything to say.

"Ze chemical ingredients zat can damage ze bottom of a cauldron are mainly: suspension points, in brackets: fill in ze blank, but also: suspension points, in brackets: fill in ze blank, not forgettink: suspension points, in brackets: fill in ze..."

"And, of course" Anna interrupted, with a calm and composed voice, "you know all the missing words..."

"Errr... Yes, of course!" Axelle lied with a big forced smile that revealed all her teeth. "I only want to check if Professor Snape knows zem too! Zat's a way to test his knowledge, somehow."

"Sure..." Cherry agreed wryly. "Soon the student will teach the professor... What's certain is that Professor Snape will have a lot of fun..."

"All the more so as he's been in a pretty bad mood since Monday..." Anna added, folding her arms.

"Really?" Cat asked. "He can be in a worse mood than usual?"

"What? You didn't know? Last Thursday, in the early afternoon, the Gryffindors in third year had a lesson about Boggarts with Lupin – precisely with the Boggart that we had found. And somebody called Neville Longbottom made it take the shape of Snape, before he defeated it by making Snape wear his grandmother's clothes..."

Cat and Axelle instantly burst out laughing – Cat choked on her jam toast and Axelle spit out a squirt of Butterbeer.

"Naturally, everyone in Hogwarts heard of the story during the weekend, and now Snape is furious. He's especially mad at Lupin and at anyone who says his name in front of him."

"Merlin's beard!" Cat suddenly started to get worried. "Do you think he'll be mad at me if I have the same scars as Lupin?"

"Maybe..." said a male voice that Cat knew very well. "Especially if you give him only two rolls of parchment instead of three... Besides, you still haven't knotted your tie... Yes, for sure, he's going to take some points from you... and give you a detention, on Friday evening, in his office... Hmmm, yes, a detention with Snape, at night, in the dungeons!"

"That's enough!" Cat shouted, even if she was laughing in spite of herself. "I can't hear any more!"

Then, she turned around and stood up from her bench to say hello to Vince.

"Oooooh!" she said with amazement. "You brought Quackquack!"

"Quackquack... Yes!" Vince answered, patting with his right hand the small duck that sat on his left shoulder.

Indeed, the first Quackquack was him: this cute little water bird, sitting right next to Vince's head. He was a ridiculously tiny mallard duck, with a yellow beak, a green head, a white collar and orange legs. His black eyes were shining with curiosity, which made him look quite funny.

However, what was especially funny was how Mr Lindgreen had found this duck. At first, he had gone to the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley to buy an owl, like every other student. An owl was very useful to take care of mail: it could carry letters, packages... Yes, but that day, there were no more owls left! All the owls were out of stock. And the only bird that was left was... a duck. "I'll get in touch with you as soon as we have an owl. In the meantime, you can have this duck" the seller had told Vince, giving him the animal. Naturally, the Menagerie had never called Vince back. But since the new owner of the duck had forgotten to leave his address to the seller, it was not surprising... After all, Vince couldn't complain about his duck. He had quickly become fond of his pet and had affectionately named him Quackquack. He had also started to do some research about the wonderful world of ducks and had become a true duck enthusiast. Finally, this little originality had given him some reputation at school. He was not a mere Ravenclaw anymore. He was _the_ Ravenclaw who owned a duck instead of an owl. And that was why Cat had kindly given him the nickname of Quackquack. Except that, now, there were two Quackquacks: Quackquack the duck and Quackquack the Ravenclaw. And when Cat called one of them, it was impossible to know which one it was.

"Er... Maybe we'll need to change your duck's name, after all..." Cat suggested. "Otherwise, we'll always mix it up with your nickname..."

"Hmmm... As you wish..." Vince answered, not very convinced. "I'll let you think about it..."

"No problem!" Cat exclaimed, frowning and nodding her head, looking resolute.

"Do you know you're scary when you look confident?" Axelle noted, before she put on the table her empty Butterbeer bottle.

But Cat pretended to ignore her.

"By the way" she said joyfully to Vince, with a big smile, "have you seen the new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Yes..." Vince answered, while he was having fun making his duck walk along his stretched arm. "Mr Lupin, right?"

"Yes!"

"And not Mr Dupin..." Cherry added, to remind Cat of how hard it had been for her to remember this teacher's name, the week before.

"So what?" Vince asked, once his duck had come back on his shoulder. "What about Mr Lupin?"

"Well, I don't know... He's nice, don't you think?"

"Hmmm... Yes, he's quite different from Lockhart..."

"Exactly!" Cat approved. "And Defense Against the Dark Arts becomes much more interesting with him! It's pretty uncommon to have such a kind teacher..."

"Yes... Besides, I noticed that his tie knots were perfect... Maybe you should go and ask him some advice for your tie..."

"Funny..." Cat said wryly.

"Okay, come here! I'm gonna put your tie!" Vince said.

"No, no, no!" Cat answered, shaking vigorously her head from left to right. "Believe it or not, but as I was doing some research about cauldrons at the library last weekend, I found a very interesting book: _The Standard Book of Useless Spells_."

Cat stopped speaking, as she was momentarily disturbed by Anna's giggling.

"Well, these spells were not useless at all, on the contrary! Among them, I found _Nodus Cravato_!"

"Which is?" asked Vince, raising an eyebrow.

"A spell used to make tie knots, of course!" Cat answered, with some annoyance in her voice.

"Oh! And why haven't you cast it yet?"

"I was waiting to show you! So, here we go... You just need to put the tie around your neck, you take out your wand, you point it on the tie... And..."

She looked a bit stupid like this, holding her wand and pointing it to herself, while everyone was looking at her anxiously.

"Don't cast ze wronk spell" Axelle advised. "Don't say Afada Kedafra!"

"Quiet! Can't you see I'm trying to concentrate?"

Cat closed her eyes, swallowed, took a good breath, then...

" _Nodus Cravato!_ "

"Heeeelp! Heeeelp!" Axelle rushed up to Cat, who had brutally let go of her wand to hold her throat with both her hands, and was now trying to untie the knot that was strangling her.

"Call the nurse!" Vince shouted, joining desperately his hands to her friend's to try to undo the knot.

"She's suffocating!"

"She's gonna die!"

Indeed, Cat was in a worse than critical state. Not only wasn't she able to breathe, but she couldn't say a single word either. Her vocal chords and her pharynx were literally cut. The young witch could only hold her eyes and her mouth wide open, while her face was turning redder and redder and her hands were waving all around, in total panic.

"This bloody knot is really tight..." Vince noted, as he was still trying to undo the tie and avoid Cat's punches.

"At least we can say this spell works..." Anna said.

"A bit too well..." Cherry added.

"Ah! Here it is! I did it!" Vince finally cried out, with a voice that resonated in the entire Great Hall, so much so that it was now impossible for anyone to have missed the dramatic show of Cathie Mist strangling herself with her tie.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! FRESH AIIIIIIIIIIIR! I CAN BREEEEEAAAAAAATHE!"

* * *

When Divination class began, Cat had finally recovered from her accident at breakfast. She felt much better, thanks to Vince. Finally, she thought – while Professor Trelawney was starting a long and soporific monologue about dream interpretation – it was Vince who had knotted her tie, once again. And, finally, Potions class had not been so bad. Of course, Snape's controlled anger had been palpable, but when Cat had given him her two rolls of parchment in place of the three that she had been asked, the teacher had simply grunted with annoyance. After all, he would have more reasons to get angry when he would discover Axelle's famous fill-in-the-blank scrolls.

"Now, go on, please!" Professor Trelawney said with her mysterious voice. "Open _The Dream Oracle_ and use it to interpret the dreams that you had lately."

"I didn't have any dream, lately" Cat told Axelle, turning half-heartedly the pages of her book.

"Really?" Axelle sounded surprised. "You didn't efen dream zat you were stranglink yourself wiz a tie?"

"Nope..."

"Too bad... It could hafe made a good premonitory dream..."

"Hmmm..." Cat said, massaging her neck.

"Last night, I dreamt I was beink hunted by a giant potato..."

"Oh..." Cat smiled. "That's pretty uncommon. But I'm not sure we can find the interpretation of such a dream in that book..."

Cat flipped through her book all the same, reading it very seriously, from the first page to the last one, bending over some lines to analyse them more precisely. However, her efforts were to no avail, as she couldn't find any interpretation mentioning a potato, a hunt or a veggie.

"It doesn't matter if you can't find any interpretation" Axelle said, slouching a bit more in her armchair. "I'll try to hafe anozer dream."

The blond girl spread her legs, so that she was almost lying on her armchair, with her head against the cushioned backrest, then closed her eyes.

"You'll... You'll what?" Cat exclaimed.

"I'm gonna sleep! And if ze teacher arrives, don't wake me up! Just tell her I'm tryink to hafe anozer dream, so zat we can interpret it after."

"Alright..." Cat answered, not very convinced.

At noon, Cat walked down the stairs to the Great Hall for lunch. She found Vince, Cherry and Anna at the Ravenclaw table.

"Where is Axelle?" Cherry asked.

"Oh" Cat said, smiling. "I let her sleep in Divination class!"

* * *

Like the first week of school, the month of September went quite fast as well. Even at the end of summer, the weather was still nice and sunny, inciting the students to go and stroll around the castle. Unfortunately, the fifth years had started to get a fair amount of homework. The Ravenclaws, in particular, were literally buried under piles of exercises they had to do, documents they had to analyse... The topics of the essays they had to write were so tricky that the common room was constantly filled with complaints like: "It's too haaaaard!", "I don't understaaaaand!", "Heeeeelp!", "I'm gonna hang myseeeeelf!". Finally, Cat and her three friends had hardly the time to enjoy the nice weather.

What about the lessons themselves? In Potions class, the fifth years were studying moonstones. In Divination, they were still learning how to interpret dreams, and they had to write for two months a diary of their dreams... In History of Magic, Cat, Cherry and Axelle had had to asked Anna what Professor Binns's lessons had been about, because she'd been the only one not falling asleep: to Anna's greatest pleasure, they were studying the famous giant wars. The Care of Magical Creatures class was deadly boring. Hagrid, the gamekeeper who had recently been promoted to professor, was making them take care of Flobberworms: creatures that were as disgusting as they were uninteresting.

Thank goodness, the Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons were still as great as usual. Professor Lupin was now teaching his students all about giant snails called Grastecos, whose orange shell was as big as a Quaffle. These molluscs could move surprisingly fast – much faster than a common snail –, had only one tentacle and, thus, only one eye. Their slime was very sticky and extremely noxious, as it was mainly composed of sulfuric acid.

With all the things that the fifth years in Ravenclaw had already learnt since the beginning of the month, it was clear that tests would come soon. Indeed: their very first test was planned for Wednesday, September 23rd. To everyone's surprise – as very few students had expected it – it was a test of... Defense Against the Dark Arts! "Don't worry!" Professor Lupin had said to reassure his students. "This test won't be too hard. If you've paid enough attention in class, you should pass it easily!"

* * *

It felt good to have some fresh air. "Too bad Axelle, Cherry and Anna didn't come" Cat thought. But, after all, she liked solitude and tranquillity. The class had ended at noon and she had already almost finished her homework. Since her friends preferred to stay in the library to study, she had left them behind, feeling the urge to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

It was Tuesday afternoon, and she was now wandering in the sunny courtyard of Hogwarts, feeling the soft breeze on her face and in her hair. As she walked, she stared at the landscape with both wonder and respect: these green hills made her feel so small... These pine forests looked so mysterious that she felt very much like venturing into them – even if one of them was the Forbidden Forest. She smelled the fresh air around her: the scent of pine resin, mixed with the scent of mushrooms. It was autumn, indeed... Today was the first day of autumn. You could smell it, you could see it: the leaves of the trees had started yellowing, some of them were even turning red, so much so that some parts of the forests seemed ablaze with colours.

Cat's path led her to the bridge to Hogsmeade. It was a grey stone bridge, covered with a roof, that crossed an entire valley. However, she wasn't allowed to go on that bridge right now. Any trip to Hogsmeade without permission was forbidden. She had to wait for the 31st of October to have the rights to visit the wizarding village. Anyway, it didn't bother Cat, since she preferred by far staying in the peaceful courtyard of Hogwarts. The surrounding area was deserted. This made her feel a bit worried and excited at the same time. Smiling with content, she walked towards a chestnut tree and sat against its trunk. She had a wonderful sight on the bridge and the valley.

After all, even if she was alone, it was all the more enjoyable. She was free. She could think, think as much as she felt like it. Let her feelings go free. Was she melancholic at the sight of the dead leaves falling from the chestnut tree and fluttering about in the air, blown by the wind? No... She was amazed, instead... These golden leaves, dancing in the breeze, all around her, were going far, toward the bridge to Hogsmeade. They were ending their journey in the green grass, or finally landing in the young witch's hair. How beautiful it was!

Cat picked up a leaf that had landed next to her and stared at it. Was it her imagination, or did this leaf have the shape of a heart? It had such a nice colour: a vibrant golden-yellow colour, like the colour of amber... Just like his eyes... Like Professor Lupin's eyes... Cat turned her head and tried to focus her attention on the bridge in front of her. Why did she have to think about it again? Why did this dead leaf remind her of Mr Lupin's eyes? And when she thought that the day after she had an exam in Defense Against the Dark Arts...

* * *

When the bell rang for the beginning of the afternoon classes, all the fifth years in Ravenclaw were already sitting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. All were silent and busy searching in their bags to take out quills, bottles of ink and blank rolls of parchment. The atmosphere was tense. Everyone thought that if Professor Lupin's lessons could be extremely interesting, his tests could be extremely difficult as well. Somehow, all the students were persuaded that the level of interest was equal to the level of difficulty, and so they expected to have a hard exam.

"Well" the teacher said with his friendly sweet voice, when he saw that all his students were ready. "I think one roll of parchment will be largely enough. You'll have the whole hour for this test, even if you'll probably finish it earlier. So you'll have time to read over your work too. Since it's your first exam with me, you'll see on the board what should figure at the top of your scrolls."

Lupin flicked his wand and words appeared on the black board. Cat looked at it carefully. At the top left, she could read: _First Name, Last Name_ , below: _Grade (House and Year)_ , and at the top right: _Date_.

"Now, here are the questions" Lupin said, making new lines appear on the board. "There are twenty questions, and each one is worth one point. You don't need to copy them, just answer them on your papers. Now, let's start!"

With fierce determination, Cat instantly bent over her roll of parchment and began writing what Lupin had said should figure at the top of her scroll. Her hand was literally running on the paper, the dark blue ink was flowing and her white quill was frantically shaking between her fingers. Quick! She mustn't waste time! She had to start answering the questions now! She mustn't fail this test! Not the first of the year!

"Gaaah! I've got cramp in my hand!" Cat moaned in her head. She put back her quill in her inkwell, sat up straight, and then began a series of stupid exercises to warm up her fingers. First, she cracked her knuckles one by one, which caught some students' attention – they turned to her with a mix of curiosity and annoyance in their eyes. Then, she joined her hands as if she was going to pray, and rolled her wrists. This time, even Axelle – who sat next to her – had ended up raising her head from her scroll, to see what her friend was doing. Cat continued with a synchronised flexion-extension movement of all her phalanges: she closed her hand, opened it with her fingers spread wide, then closed her hand again, opened it, and so on, a dozen times. Then, she pressed each finger on the edge of the table, to crack her joints once again. So far, Cat had only focused her attention on her fingers, but when she started cracking her forefinger for the third time, she finally raised her head and took a look around her.

Indeed, she had unintentionally (or, rather, _almost_ unintentionally) managed to draw attention to herself once again. Some of the Ravenclaws looked so outraged... But she didn't care, after all. It was their problem if it bothered them. They just had to try to concentrate a bit more on their test! However, before she managed to focus on her ring finger, she noted that somebody else had turned to her and was staring at her. And if Cat's ludicrous performance proved to be really annoying, this person could complain in a much more explicit way than with simple outraged looks, since this person was... the teacher.

Cat suddenly stopped doing what she was doing, paralysed by Professor Lupin's gaze. But his gaze wasn't nasty, it was rather... worried. The adult was standing there, beside his desk, and was looking at Cat with inquiring amber eyes and raised eyebrows. She could clearly read on his face the question that he was asking himself: "Is everything okay?". Yes... Naturally, he was worried about her mental health. Did this crazy girl feel no shame of worrying a poor man for so little? Yes. Of course, she felt ashamed! That's precisely why her cheeks turned red. She meant to say "Sorry", but no word came out of her mouth. All she could do was take back her quill and bend over her scroll again.

If she didn't want to fail this test, if she didn't want this leaf of paper to become a piece of rubbish, a true dead leaf – like the leaves falling at this time of the year –, she had to regain composure, now! Let's work! Question 1! It was true that Professor Lupin's questions were easy. Surely, it explained why every student in the classroom kept on writing frantically: everyone knew the answer to every question. The constant sound of the quills scratching on the paper was rather funny. What Professor Lupin must be thinking? He was standing with his hands in the pockets of his grey trousers, that matched the colour of his jacket, over which he had put a large black and patched robe. He had a global view on the entire classroom and could observe all his students, who were focused on his exam. Did he find it funny to see most of the Ravenclaws bent over their rolls of parchment, and some others scratching their chins with the tip of their quills while they were thinking? Or did he find it totally normal?

And why on earth was Cat wondering about Professor Lupin's thoughts? She had a test to focus on, questions to answer, she mustn't waste time thinking about some totally irrelevant issues! Question 5! If she continued like that, she wouldn't have enough time to finish her test, and her leaf of paper would be a dead leaf... Like the leaves she had admired so much, the day before... The leaves falling from the trees and dancing in the wind... The leaves that had such a nice and warm colour... Like the colour of Mr Lupin's eyes... It was true. A simple look at Mr Lupin's eyes would be enough to see how they shone with the same golden colour as the dead leaves... All Cat had to do was raise her head and glance at the teacher... She could do it... After all, she had difficulty with question 7, and question 8 was written on the board... And, after all, the way he had looked at her, a few minutes before, had been so... cute! Yes, it might sound ridiculous, but Cat had found that the concern in his eyes had been cute and touching... It was... Oh! She couldn't help it! She had to look at him again!

Cat conscientiously wrote "I skip" next to the number 7 that she had noted down on her scroll, then raised her eyes to the board. He was right next to it. Was it her imagination or did he have a kind of melancholic expression on his face now? He seemed almost sad... Why? What could he be thinking? "Stop focusing on the teacher! Focus on question 8, instead!" Cat finally told herself, as she had almost forgotten the first reason why she had raised her head.

 _Question 8: How many tentacles do Grastecos have?_

Cat stared at the board with her eyes wide open. She couldn't believe it. "This question is a joke, right?" she thought, before she wrote on her scroll the obvious answer that Grastecos only had one tentacle.

As if Professor Lupin had heard her, he began walking slowly towards her table. In truth, he was only strolling around the classroom, starting his walk in the centre aisle, to kill time. He had to find something to do, after all. Besides, this was a good way to keep a close eye on his students and detect the potential cheaters. But even if he played his role of teacher by walking between the rows of tables, why was it disturbing Cat so much? It was absurd! She had reached the tenth question, so far so good. But why was she worrying at the sight of Lupin coming close to her table?

 _Question 10: What's the particularity of Grastecos's slime?_

"Slime... Slime..." Cat thought, nervously chewing the tip of her quill, as the teacher was now only three feet away from her. "Well, I don't know... It... It sticks!" Cat was getting seriously hot. For an unknown reason (but maybe not so unknown, in fact), her face was gradually turning red. She felt like loosening her tie to breathe better, but she didn't dare, because he was just twenty inches away from her table now... He would have found it weird (it _was_ weird) and he would have worried again. Besides, she felt completely nervous and agitated, which made her tremble a little. The thought that he was right next to her now, a few inches away from her left arm, didn't make things better.

"Stay focused, for Merlin's sake! Show him you know the answers to his questions! Write something!". Cat bent over her roll of parchment and wrote: "Slime sticks". Well, with such an answer, she wouldn't go very far... But Professor Lupin had finally passed by her and now he was out of her view. Thus, she had regained some composure and concentration, and so she could detail her answer, explaining that Grastecos's slime was extremely dangerous, and that its main chemical composition was sulfuric acid, whose formula was 2H+ + SO4 2-, etc, etc.

Cat had reached question 14 when Professor Lupin told the students that there were only five minutes left. As usual, she wouldn't manage to finish an exam in time. If only he hadn't distracted her, none of this would have happened!

"Time's up!" he finally said with a resounding voice. "Please, put your quills down! Anyway, I think you've all finished the test, right?"

Well, no! No! There was one student who hadn't finished the test yet, and it was Cathie Mist! And whose fault was it, eh? Despite her will to continue to answer question 18, Cat obeyed Lupin's orders and put her quill in her inkwell. Then she looked bitterly at her roll of parchment as it raised from her table, joined the others and landed on the teacher's desk, forming a stack of papers.

"Well, I hope you all passed this test! I'll mark your papers as soon as possible, and I think you'll have them back next Wednesday. Good afternoon!"

All the students, except Cat, got up from their chairs, packed their things and commented on the exam with each other. All, except Cat, were already standing with their bags on their shoulders and talking lively.

"I made it!"

"Did you see question 8? Far too easy!"

"And question 20! Very interesting! I wrote twenty lines to answer it!"

But Cat didn't share this joyful mood. She really felt like she was the only one who had failed this exam. First, she didn't have enough time to answer questions 18, 19 and 20; secondly, she had skipped question 7; and finally, she wasn't really pleased with her answers to the other questions. She thought she had not written enough. In her haste, she had had to omit a few details and sum up what was essential.

Despaired by her mistakes, Cat was staying in her chair, impassive, with a lost look in her eyes and a discouraged face. She was mainly wondering why, why, why? Why had he upset her so much? Cat, who was usually so serious and imperturbable, had failed the first test of the year... And her paper was a true dead leaf...


	6. Chocolate turns heads

**Chapter 6  
** _Chocolate turns heads_

That evening, there was nobody in the Ravenclaw Girls' Dormitory. Nobody except... a brown-haired girl and a blond-haired girl, sitting face to face, on the mattress of a bed that they had placed against a wall, right under a window. Despite the fresh air reigning outside, the window was wide open, and the white light from the full moon shone remarkably well on the two witches. Both were immersed in their homework. They had on their face a surprisingly serious look that followed attentively the lines they were writing in their notebook. The silence of the room was only interrupted by the scratching sound of the quills on the paper.

It was a Tuesday evening, and all the Ravenclaws had gone downstairs to the Great Hall for dinner. They were the only ones left in the dormitory... Once again, they had left it to the last minute to do their homework... Well, it was Divination homework... Not very interesting... It explained why they were paying attention to it at the very last minute. But like the saying goes, had they not "saved the best for last"?

"What day will it be, tomorrow?" Axelle asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Wednesday, September 30th" Cat answered in a monotonous tone of voice, without raising her head from her notebook.

"Ahrr! Zanks! Wiz all zis work, I ended up losink all sense of time. So, tomorrow's ze day when Lupin is supposed to gife us back our papers, right?"

"Oh, please, Axelle!" Cat exclaimed with a slightly frustrated voice. "Don't talk to me about that test! You know very well that I failed it."

"You always say zat, and, in ze end, you always end up passink all your tests."

Cat only replied with a bad mood grunt, which seemed to mean that this test would, for once, escape the rule and be severely marked.

"Ze hell wiz it, I'fe had enough!" Axelle finally shouted, throwing her quill on the bed, in a totally unexpected way that made Cat jump with surprise. "I don't understand a damn zink about her story of dream interpretation! I only hafe weird dreams, zat hafe absolutely no meanink!"

Cat sniffed mockingly, then put down her quill, feeling a bit less tense.

"Like the one you had where you were playing Quidditch, flying on a leek and throwing to your teammates a tomato instead of a Quaffle?"

"Yes! Zat's it! So how do you want me to find out the meanink of all zis? And, last night, I efen had a stranger dream... I dreamt zat I was in Potions class and I was simmerink apricot jam in my cauldron. Then, at some point, Professor Snape came closer, tasted my jam and told me it was really bad. And to make himself understood, he took my cauldron and turned it ofer..."

"Your head..." Cat finished, remembering their misfortune on their first day of school. "Sounds familiar."

"And you? What dream did you hafe, lately?"

"Me?" Cat repeated thoughtfully, looking out the window at the round and white moon, as if it was going to help her think better.

She stayed like this for a few seconds, silent and motionless, trying to remember the last dreams she had had. She was looking just like some kind of romantic girl, staring at the moon with a melancholic gaze...

"Err... Cat?" Axelle said, spoiling the mood somehow. "If you'fe correctly done ze homework zat Trelawney gafe us, you should normally find ze summary of your latest dreams in ze diary zat you're holdink..."

"Oh... You're right. How silly of me!" Cat giggled and turned the pages of her notebook.

She bent over it and examined carefully the lines that she had written these past few days.

"Oh! You won't believe it!" she exclaimed with a hysterical voice, suddenly raising her head from her notebook and showing a big smile on her face. "For the umpteenth time, I dreamt that I was attending a concert of Avada Kedavra!"

Of course, Avada Kedavra... Anyone who knew Cat was forced to hear her speak more than once of this famous industrial metal band that she whorshipped so much. This band had nothing to envy to the Weird Sisters or any other popular groups of this kind. Nothing! Avada Kedavra were known for their sense of outrageousness, greatness and provocation. The name of the band in itself was shocking. The musicians had chosen to call themselves after the incantation of the Killing Curse precisely to offend the public, and they had made this choice just after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had killed Harry Potter's parents and had been defeated. Needless to say that they had been highly criticised by the media, who couldn't stand seeing a metal band taking inspiration from such dramatic events. Yet, the musicians went further in provocation, with frightening and very controversial live performances.

The guitarist, using his unplugged but magically amplified guitar, played powerful and heavy riffs, as well as heady guitar solos. Not only was he extremely talented, but he was also very charismatic. He was in his mid-thirties, had bright red hair and light blue eyes, and his stature was truly impressive: he was at least six feet tall, and he usually played on stage bare-chested, showing his big muscles full of scars and disturbing bites – some of them were even leaking blood, sometimes. Rumours said that he was a werewolf and that the scars on his body were the consequences of his nocturnal fights. And these rumours were probably true, although the mysterious guitar player kept denying them.

The band was also composed of a bassist, and it was a woman. She seemed to be in her twenties, and always wore a black heavy cape, whose hood constantly hid her face.

Let's not forget the drum set. The drum set had no drummer and played by itself. Two magical wands had been enchanted to hit the snare drum, toms, cymbals and hit-hat.

Last but not least, the singer. Ah! The singer! Just like the guitar player, he had many groupies, and perhaps even more, because he was even more gorgeous. Just like the guitar player, he was in his mid-thirties and had light blue eyes. But what distinguished him was his black makeup under his eyes and his black messy hair, which gave him a quite mysterious look. He was six and a half feet tall and was as strong as the guitarist, so he often went on stage naked to the waist as well. He didn't need any microphone to sing: at the beginning of every concert, he simply used the Amplifying Charm. Thus, he could fill the air with martial intonations, mixing crude and shocking lyrics with softer and more poetic words. Finally, he sometimes wore – like the bassist – a large black hooded cape, that he kept slightly open on the prominent muscles of his torso, which made him look so... hmmm!

Yet, as their musical style was clearly referring to some kind of extreme violence or dark romanticism, and as their clothing style looked a lot like the Death Eaters' outfit (at least when the singer and the guitarist weren't bare-chested but wore their capes), the members of the band were accused by the media of being neo-Death-Eaters. The accusations went further: not only was the guitarist accused of being a werewolf, but the media also implied that the singer used to be one of the most faithful followers of the Dark Lord. Worst of all, even the bassist was pointed out as being Lord Voldemort's secret daughter. It was absurd! Okay, half of the wizards who listened to Avada Kedavra were practicing Dark Magic, but what about the other half? Well, the other half worshipped Avada Kedavra for their surprising and emotional music. To silence the rumours, the musicians showed to those who wanted to see it that their left forearm wasn't tattooed with the Dark Mark. But the media was not convinced, and their reputation of neo-Death-Eaters never left them. With Avada Kedavra, things were simple: either you loved this band, or you hated them. There was no middle ground. Cat, for her part, was a real groupie!

"What surprised me" Cat said with some excitation, "was that the concert was taking place in a very small concert hall. And it was almost empty! There were only four of five people, and me!"

"Obfiously" Axelle commented, "it profes zat zis band is not fery famous!"

"Very funny" Cat said dryly, before she continued her story. "So, the lights went out, the hall was plunged into darkness, and the first notes of the song "Avada Kedavra" rang out. Naturally, I started screaming the singer's name with all my strength, like a mad girl. And when he began singing the refrain, I shouted with him: "Avadaaa Kedavraaa! I'm struck by the power of your name! Avadaaa Kedavraaa! And nothing will ever be the same!". But after some time, the spectators behind me told me: "Could you speak less loudly, please?". Needless to say that I was quite frustrated! So I moved away, and guess where I went instead? Well, I walked down the tier and went right in front of the stage, against the safety barrier. Since there was nobody around, it was perfect: I could follow the moves of the singer by walking with him along the stage!"

"He must hafe found it weird to see zat you were followink him like zis..."

"You bet! But that's not all! After a while, I was so amazed by the music, so excited by the singer..."

"So what?"

"Er... Yes, well, you got it, right? Anyway. I literally climbed over the safety barrier, and I got on stage! And so, there I was, among the three musicians, headbanging and jumping up and down like a crazy girl! And I was so happy that I finally laid down on the stage!"

"You laid down?" Axelle repeated, surprised.

"Yes!"

"But, tell me, what did you expect the singer to do to you, like this?"

"Well, er... Nothing... Nothing at all, of course!" Cat mumbled, slightly blushing.

"And what did he do, eventually?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I couldn't see what he did next. That's when I woke up!"

"Ah..." Axelle said, looking out the window at the starry sky. "Anyway, zat's a premonitory dream, I tell you!"

"You think so?" Cat opened big round eyes, full of hope.

"Yes! I'm sure zat, one day, your dream will come true!"

"Oooh!" Cat's voice was trembling with emotion.

She turned her head towards the open window and stared dreamily at the night. Her chocolate-coloured eyes were still shining with happiness, and a smile was lighting up her face.

Everything was so peaceful, outside. The pine tree tops only moved slightly under the soft nocturnal breeze. There was no movement, no sound. Only the absolute and soothing silence of an autumnal night... Until a long and far howling resounded and woke Cat up from her slumber.

"Uh?" She straightened up, as if she was on alert. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Axelle asked, with a sceptical glance.

"Well, I don't know... I sounded like a wolf's howl..."

"Cat, stop it right now!" Axelle suddenly protested. "It's not funny, you know?"

"I know, but I'm pretty sure that I heard a werewolf..."

"Shut your mouz!" Axelle finally got angry, grabbed her friend by her tie and shook her frantically.

"Aaaaah! Stop it!" Cat begged. "I may have heard it wrong!"

"Yes! Surely!" Axelle shouted, before she let go of her friend. "Now, shut zis window because I don't want to catch a cold."

Cat rolled her eyes. As she obeyed her friend's order, she glanced at the full moon, and her heart suddenly froze. Not because she was terrified at the thought of a werewolf, but because she had just remembered that, the following day, Professor Lupin would give her back her failed exam.

* * *

The autumnal rain was pounding against the large windows of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The room was a bit darker than usual, because of the thick grey clouds covering the sky outside. The soft beating of the droplets against the glass was the only background noise. All the students were waiting silently for Professor Lupin to speak about the papers he had marked. Cat's heart was beating in her throat.

"I..." Lupin started to say with a surprisingly weak voice – so weak that it seemed it was going to faint. "I'm truly sorry" he finally managed to say, and everybody looked at him with questioning eyes. "I couldn't find time to mark your papers..."

It was as if all the pressure and stress that Cat had accumulated since the beginning of the morning suddenly got away. A ton of weights had just lifted themselves off her shoulders, and she could at least feel lighter. Whereas she had not smiled once since her waking up, she now felt like giggling. Yes, she felt like laughing out loud: "Hahahahaha!". Finally, even if Lupin was an extremely talented professor, he still had his weaknesses: in that case, he had forgotten to mark his students' papers (except that he hadn't said he had forgotten, he had said he hadn't had the time, there was a slight difference). Anyway, even if Cat didn't receive her paper today, she would still have it sooner or later. It was only putting off catastrophe.

"I thought I could mark them yesterday afternoon" Lupin continued, looking sorry, "but I hadn't expected to fall sick..."

True, he didn't look well. Cat had not paid very much attention to him since she had entered his classroom – simply because she had been too preoccupied by her failed exam – and, so, she looked at him more carefully. His face was paler than ever, which emphasized a bit more the brown colour of his very thin moustache. Some locks of his chestnut hair were disorderly falling on the left side of his forehead. He had dark rings under his eyes – which had somehow lost their golden brightness – and he seemed to have difficulties keeping his eyelids open. Poor man... He really looked like he had spent an awful Tuesday afternoon. Even if they were a bit disappointed to have to wait longer to know their marks to the exam, the Ravenclaws soon forgave Professor Lupin, and participated in his class as happily and actively as usual.

"We'll all hafe to contribute, at ze end of ze year, to offer him new clozes for Christmas" Axelle whispered to Cat, while the students were debating between themselves and with Professor Lupin to know which creature was the most frightening creature in the world.

"Axelle, you're mean" Cat replied, as she stared at the teacher's greyish patched jacket and trousers.

"Böse, ich bin so böse..."

"Hm?"

"Oh, nozing..."

During the class, Cat noticed that Lupin's tiredness could be read not only on his face, but also in his movements and his posture. He only moved between his desk and the front row. No more than a few steps, that was all. And, when he walked, Cat had the impression that he was slightly limping. Besides, he always stood leaning on the edge of his desk with his hand, or he ended up sitting on his chair. His shoulders drooped as if they were carrying a huge weight, as if the robe he was wearing was too heavy for him.

At the end of the class, Cat put her things in her bag and walked towards the door. Before she left, she had one last glance at the teacher. Tomorrow, even if she didn't have Defense Against the Dark Art class, she would find a way to see if he was looking better. She really hoped to see him back in good health.

* * *

"Well, well... What's ze next class, now?" Axelle asked joyfully. It was the early afternoon, and she and her three friends were walking with a firm step in a corridor.

"Maybe it's time you learnt your schedule by heart" Cherry advised, walking at the head of the group. "It's been a month since we got back to school, now, and you still don't know that on Thursday, at one o'clock in the afternoon, we have Transfiguration class..."

Cat, at least, knew that they were going to Transfiguration class, huhuhu... She even knew which way to take to go to the Transfiguration classroom – which was normal, for a student who had already spent four whole years in Hogwarts. Yet, this year somehow promised to be much stranger than the four years before. First, there were these Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons, which proved to be much more interesting than all the previous lessons that Cat had had in the past. Then, there was this teacher, who also proved to be much more interesting than all the other teachers... And these two points precisely made the corridor in which they were walking much more interesting than what Cat could once imagine. Yes, because this long corridor, large and lit by many torches, gave access to lots of rooms: the Transfiguration classroom was on the left at the far end of the corridor; the nearby room was dedicated to the Charms lessons; and, in front of this room, on the other side of the corridor, there was the famous Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Whether she liked it or not, in order to go the Transfiguration or Charms classroom, Cat had to walk past the door the Mr Lupin's classroom...

"Ahrr! Yes!" Axelle exclaimed, joining Cherry at the head of the group, so that now Cat was left alone behind the three others. "I remember, now! Today's Transfiguration class is ze one we hafe in common wiz ze Gryffindors in fifz year! Oh! George will be zere, George will be zere, George Weasley will be zeeere!" she sang while she was jumping up and down – which made Cat appreciate the distance between her and this crazy girl.

"For sure, you didn't forget _that_ " Anna noted wearily. "You know what you are about..."

Yes, and Cat knew what she was about too. She was getting closer to Lupin's door, she mustn't miss it. Only a few feet left...

"I have to admit, this is one of the reasons why I love Professor McGonagall's lessons so much" Cherry added. "I'm always in a good mood when I know I'll spend one hour in the same classroom as Fred Weasley!"

"We don't care about Fred Weasley" Axelle said categorically. "George is ze most handsome!"

"Cat? Are you following us?" Anna eventually worried and turned over to see if her friend was still behind.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming!" Cat answered, smiling.

And she finally walked past it. She instinctively turned her head to the right. The door was open. And even if it only lasted a split second, she saw him – or, at least, she caught sight of him. The door opened right in front of Professor Lupin's desk, and there he was, sitting alone in front of his wooden table, writing on a roll of parchment. Cat only wanted to catch up on his news, to see if he was feeling better. Thus, she looked at his face as long as she could during this split second, and noted with some relief that his skin was less pale, and that his eyes, a bit more open than the last time, had regained some brightness. Good for him! Now she could go to Transfiguration class with some happiness.

* * *

Cat could explain the furtive glance that she had had at Professor Lupin that Thursday afternoon by the fact that she had wanted to know if he had recovered from his sickness. Alright. But how could she explain the glance that she had at him the day after, while she was going to the Charms classroom, and whereas she already had had a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson no more than two hours earlier? And how could she explain the glance that she had at him again when she left Professor Flitwick's classroom, one hour later?

The weekend came, and Cat finally wondered why she had constantly looked at Professor Lupin, each time she had walked past his classroom. Wasn't it enough for her to see him during the Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons? Did she have to look at him again, even briefly, between classes? Of course, one of the reasons why she was acting like this was because she wanted to check on Lupin's health improvement. But when she had class with him at eight in the morning, why did she need to look at him again at ten o'clock, and then at eleven? Even if the teacher was recovering gradually, a few hours weren't enough for the dark rings under his eyes to fade away.

So, why? Why did Cat turn her head toward his classroom, whenever she went past it? Honestly, she couldn't find any explanation. It was instinctive. It was natural. It had more to do with her subconscious than with anything else. If she stood next to an open door, it was normal for her to look at what was beyond that door. It was just curiosity, nothing more. Whether it was the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom or the History of Magic classroom didn't make any difference. Whether Professor Lupin was in the room or not didn't matter. The fact remained the same: an open door drew much more attention than a closed door.

* * *

On the Sunday evening of the first weekend of October, Cat, Axelle, Cherry and Anna were sitting by the fireplace of the Ravenclaw common room, full of students chatting happily. The atmosphere was very friendly, and the four girls were talking vividly. Or, at least, three of them were talking, and the last one was listening silently, as the conversation had finally turned to the only topic that didn't affect Cat and that interested her even less.

"Did you see how he looked at me, durink Transfiguration class, last Zursday?" Axelle exclaimed, with a big and happy smile, which looked a bit silly.

"No, sorry" Cherry answered, with almost the same stupid smile. "I was too busy staring at Fred..."

"And how he smiled to me, at ze end of ze class! Oooh, he's so cute!"

"Axelle, honestly, I think you're imagining things... And don't forget you're already with Oliver..."

"Olifer?" the blond girl repeated, with her blue eyes wide open. "Who's Olifer?"

"The guy you're supposed to be going out with..." Anna answered, with some concern in her eyes.

The armchair in which Cat was slouching was very comfortable... She mustn't fall asleep... Otherwise, who would wake her up? But she couldn't help it... The common room was so warm (of course, she sat next to the fireplace), this armchair was so cosy, and this conversation was so boring... Everything made her feel sleepy... But she mustn't fall asleep! She suddenly straightened up, and her friends finally noticed her presence, staring at her with surprised eyes, as if she had never been there.

"What about you, Cat?" Anna asked with a benevolent smile. "We don't hear you much..."

Cat felt as if she had received a slap across her face. Anna's comment was not spiteful and she had not made it with bad intention, no, it was a simple remark, but it still hurt. Cat felt belittled, as if straightening up in her armchair had been useless, as if she had been pushed back in it. It was true, her friends didn't hear her talk much, she almost never spoke, but whose fault was it, eh? The three girls had started a conversation that didn't interest her at all and that she found even more boring than Professor Binns's lessons.

And now, the three Ravenclaws were staring at her with curious eyes, and the poor girl was feeling more and more awkward. Why on earth did they suddenly have focused their attention on her? Couldn't they leave her alone, even if she fell asleep, instead of wearing her out with questions? Cat knew they were going to ask her questions. The first question – and she would hear it for the umpteenth time – would be: "And you, Cat, do you have somebody in mind?". Yet, didn't they know this question was pointless to ask? Didn't they know that this questioning would come to a sudden end, once again, simply because Cat would, once again, answer "no"?

"Are you interested in someone, in Hogwarts? Someone you find cute?" Anna asked.

"No, no..." Cat answered, as evasively and indifferently as ever. "The truth is, I don't really look for someone..."

"Oh?" Cherry looked surprised. "Yet, there are some pretty boys, here... You should look around you, I'm sure you'll find someone to your liking..."

"Yes, I'll try to search a bit more..." Cat promised with a smile.

"Hmmm... Cat is as difficult as me..." Axelle noted thoughtfully.

Cat stared at Axelle with a sceptical look. "As difficult as her"? It sounded surprising... If Axelle had really gone out with a dozens boys, then she wasn't that difficult, on the contrary. Cat might be difficult, alright, since she had never been interested in anyone...

As Cherry, Axelle and Anna resumed her conversation, Cat felt that she was going to fall into boredom again, and she looked desperately around her. With a lost look in her chocolate-coloured eyes, she searched in the common room but couldn't find any Quackquack... Why wasn't he there when she needed him the most? Disappointed and frustrated, she focused her attention back on the fire burning next to her.

The flames were so beautiful, warm and fascinating... She could have gazed at them for hours, as they never ceased to amaze her. These golden colours were flickering swiftly, reflecting in her eyes, enlightening her heart... A bit like... No... It had nothing to do with him... He was intriguing her, that was all... And there wouldn't be much more than that.

But as she was thinking again about Professor Lupin, Cat told herself that it might be a bit more exciting to read her Defense Against the Dark Arts book, instead of staying here, doing nothing more than staring at the flames. Defense Against the Dark Arts had quickly become her favourite subject. It seemed like a good idea to skim through _The Dark Arts Outsmarted._ There were so many captivating things in this subject: evil creatures, their distinctive features and how to defeat them, the Unforgivable Curses and how to block them... Not only could Cat revise all the things that Professor Lupin had taught them, but she could also have a glimpse of what he was soon going to teach them, if she turned some pages. In short, she wouldn't waste her time like she was doing right now. Let's go! Cat suddenly stood up from her armchair and took a first step to go fetch her book.

"Where are you going?" Cherry asked worryingly, as she saw her friend heading to the stairs which led to the girls' dormitory.

"I... I'm going to fetch something in the dormitory. I'll be back in a minute!"

A few seconds later, Cat was back in the common room, with _The Dark Arts Outsmarted_ in her hands, and a satisfied smile on her face. Pretty happy with her idea, she went back to sit with the others, by the fireplace, and put her book on her lap. Of course, Axelle, Cherry and Anna would notice that her friend preferred immersing herself in her book rather than listening to their stories. But whether they took it the right or the wrong way didn't really matter to her. After all, she had the right to do what she wanted... And their discussion was so boring... Without remorse, Cat opened her Defense Against the Dark Arts book and began browsing through it with curiosity. She found an interesting page which summed up everything she had learnt about the Kappas in third year with Professor Quirrell... No doubt it would have been much better to study the Kappas with Professor Lupin...

"What are you reading?" Anna asked, as she had just noticed that Cat was holding a book in her hands.

"My Defense Against the Dark Arts book..." she answered, raising her head.

"What?" Axelle jumped, panic-stricken. "Because... because... because we had to read it for tomorrow?"

"Of course, not!" Cat answered, a bit more harshly than what she had wanted. "We don't have Defense Against the Dark Arts homework for tomorrow."

"So why are you reading your book?" Anna asked.

"Why not? I want to learn things!" Cat started to get exasperated by her friends' surprise.

"It's still more interesting than pretending to listen to your poppycock" she wanted to add, but she didn't dare.

"You'll end up turning into that Hermione Granger, in Gryffindor!" Cherry joked.

"Hermione who?" Cat asked, since that name didn't ring a bell.

"Hermione Granger! Harry Potter's friend. The one who read the full book _Hogwarts, A History._ "

"Ah, yes!" Cat exclaimed, recovering her memory. "The one who has a cat which looks a lot like mine! Yes, I remember her! Some days ago, we almost got our cats mixed up!"

"Fortunately, Hermione must have noticed that your cat was the fattest one!" Cherry said mockingly.

"Oh, please!" Cat retorted. "I tried to put Plumpshanks on a diet, but to no avail..."

"Anyway" Cherry said with a more serious voice, "I hope you know that reading your Defense Against the Dark Arts book won't change the mark you'll get for your exam, tomorrow..."

That – Cat thought – was a very clumsy and hurtful remark. She gave Cherry a dirty look, before she focused her attention back on the lines of her book. What right did she have to remind her that she couldn't change the mark she would get? What right did she have to remind her that Professor Lupin was going to give them back their papers tomorrow, as she had almost managed to forget it?

* * *

Contrary to last Wednesday, it wasn't raining on this Monday. Outside, the weather was really nice and the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was enlightened by the sunshine. Besides, contrary to last Wednesday, Professor Lupin was looking good. Cathie Mist could have been very happy about it, if only she had not been so concerned. It looked like it was D-day: this time, Lupin really seemed to have marked his students' papers. No more miracle could happen to save Cat from this fatality. This time, there was no escape. She would get her mark, and she would certainly get a shock too. So she'd better be prepared for this...

The teacher was holding in his hands the famous pile of papers, and was looking at his anxious and silent students with both surprise and amusement in his eyes. Did he find it funny to see that everyone was stressed out because of these marks? Honestly, Cat thought, there was nothing funny at all. Was Lupin starting to be as sadistic as Snape?

"I finally marked your papers..." the teacher began to say kindly.

"It's about time" Cat thought wryly, to try to relax.

"As promised, I'm going to give them back to you..."

"Are you feeling better, Professor?" Cherry asked with a big smile and a voice that sounded truly interested.

As many students in the classroom, Cat instantly turned on her chair to stare at Cherry. But the latter wasn't concerned at all about her comrades. Her brown laughing eyes were only set on Professor Lupin, and she kept a friendly smile on her face. Cat was sure that it was fake.

What an awful, awful boot-licker! Why was Cherry suddenly worrying about Professor Lupin's health? Wasn't it Cat who had felt the most concerned about it? Wasn't it Cat who had kept glancing at Lupin to see if he was looking a bit better every day? It was Cat who should have asked this question. Yet she didn't dare to, because she was shy, and afraid of looking like a groveller. Something that she was not, and something that Cherry precisely was. Wasn't it enough for her to be at the top of the class? Cat was persuaded that behind her question, which sounded very kind, there was no sincerity at all. Only intentions. And she found it disgusting.

Yet, Lupin answered with a beautiful and touched smile, which warmed Cat's heart and calmed her down.

"Yes, I'm feeling better, thank you, Cherry" he said. "Now, I think it's high time I gave you back your papers."

"Oh, you can keep mine if you want. I don't care." Cat thought with a smirk.

"As I expected, the exam was a success on the whole. There are very good marks – except two or three lower marks, but they're not disastrous."

Cat's heart skipped a beat. What if her mark was among these two or three exceptions? With her luck, yes, of course, her mark was among the lowest ones.

"I'll try to come back to the few questions that were a bit less successful" the teacher promised. "So, well..."

The man tilted his head on the first scroll of the pile.

"Axelle Kraft?" he called, before he came to Cat's table and gave her neighbour her roll of parchment.

Cat was too nervous to pay attention to the mark that her friend had got. She kept her head down and stared blankly at the table, biting her nails at the same time, then raised her head again from time to time, to see where Lupin was in his papers delivery. "Let's hope the next one isn't mine, let's hope the next one isn't mine..."

"Anna Beans..."

The more time passed, the more anxious Cat was. The pile of papers started to diminish. Lupin was really maintaining the suspense... But it mustn't last too long, otherwise Cat would end up having a heart attack. She eventually wondered whether it wouldn't be better for her to receive her paper right now...

"First Name, Last Name..."

Cat's eyes widened with surprise and turned to the teacher. Had she heard it right? Had Lupin really called "First Name, Last Name"?

"It's a bit surprising, indeed" Lupin commented with an amused smile, as he saw the bewildered eyes of his students. "Yet, someone among you copied word for word the example of what I wanted to figure at the top of your scrolls, with no change at all, and so this person wrote "First Name, Last Name" instead of replacing these words with his or her own first name and last name."

The whole classroom was instantly filled with a burst of laughter. Axelle was crying laughing, bent over her paper which was marked with a "Poor". Cat was laughing too, wondering who was the idiot who could have done such a stupid thing.

"Fortunately" the teacher went on, and the laughters faded away a little, "this was the only anonymous paper. So I looked at the list of students and I managed to find the missing name..."

The teacher, who still kept an amused smile on his face, walked again towards Cat's table. The brown-haired girl looked at him with concern. What was he doing around here?

"Here it is..." he said, putting the anonymous roll of parchment in front of her. "Cathie Mist!"

He gave her a joyful look, before he went on handing out the last scrolls, leaving behind him a red-faced and mortified Cathie Mist. She was stunned and couldn't believe her eyes. She bent over her paper, to make sure it was really her handwriting, to make sure she had truly written "First Name, Last Name" at the top left... And yes, it was written in black and white (or rather, in dark blue and white). So, _she_ was the idiot one who had copied word for word the example of presentation on the board! It was her...

The more she thought about it, the redder she turned... How could she have done such a stupid thing? She searched her memory and remembered the day of the exam: she had been in such a hurry to start the test that she had rushed headlong, taking her quill immediately and hastening to copy what was written on the board, without thinking to make the necessary changes... So, that was it... How silly she was, sometimes! What must the others be thinking of her? Cat glanced briefly around her. Fortunately, not many students were still looking at her. On her right, though, somebody was dying laughing. A heap of blond and wavy hair was shaking with giggles, the face pressed against the table. Cat really felt like strangling Axelle Kraft.

She was just about to do so, when Professor Lupin spoke again, interrupting her sadistic urge.

"Now, we're going to answer together to this exam's questions. Here is what I asked you..."

As he had done on the day of the exam, the teacher made the twenty questions appear on the board, and all the students raised their heads from their papers to look at them.

"With your mark, you won't have many errors to correct..." Axelle pointed out, as she had just recovered from her giggles – even if she still had some tears of laughter in the corners of her eyes.

"Really?" Cat jumped. "Why? What mark did I have?"

Indeed, this stupid "First Name, Last Name" story had held her attention so much that she had forgotten to look at her mark, which was yet written just under those stupid words. Her heart started to pound in her chest again. She looked at her scroll, unwilling to maintain the suspense any longer, and... "Exceeds Expectations"...

Cat instantly raised her head and stared blankly in front of her (as it happened, Professor Lupin was precisely standing in front of her). "Exceeds Expectations"! No! It wasn't possible! It wasn't her paper! Lupin had made a mistake: she really wasn't the one who had written "First Name, Last Name"! Yet, if she thought carefully, if she correctly activated the cogs of her small brain, there could be only one, in the whole classroom, who could have made such a stupid thing. And there was no need to look far to find this person: it was her! Cathie Mist! Cathie Mist had got an "Exceeds Expectations"! But, Merlin, how? How had she managed to get such a mark? She had thought for so long that she had failed this exam, that her leaf of paper was a true dead leaf!

Yet, when Professor Lupin started to give the correct answers to the questions, Cat realised that she could rationally explain why she had got such a good mark. In fact, this was due to no miracle. All the answers she had written were right. Even if she didn't find them satisfying, because she thought they were too short, not detailed enough, written in haste and without any in-depth study, well, for the teacher, on the contrary, these answers were totally satisfying, they showed Cat's knowledge and summed up the main ideas accurately, with no excess.

There were only three questions to which she hadn't had time to answer. The three last questions of the exam. That was all... Wait. No! She recalled she had also skipped a question... Question 7, if she remembered correctly... Then, why hadn't she got an "Acceptable" instead of an "Exceeds Expectations"? Had Professor Lupin made a mistake when he had marked her paper? She clearly remembered she had written "I skip" on her scroll, in place of the answer to question 7... And the question was...

Cat raised her head and stared at the board, folding her eyes.

 _Question 7: Imagine you're facing phosphorescent slugs that are skipping down a dark corridor. What is the best thing you should do for them not to attack you?_

"Indeed, the correct answer was to skip with them" Lupin said to all the students, while Cat was still staring at the board, with her eyes and her mouth wide open, as she couldn't believe it. "The best way not to be attacked by phosphorescent slugs is to reproduce their every movement, until they lose their phosphorescent light and become translucent."

Cat had to wait for several seconds before she could recover from her shock and connect back to reality. Afterwards, she was in high spirits, with her eyebrows raised and a big smile on her face. While Lupin was still giving the answers to the other questions, she couldn't help chuckling unexpectedly, which showed how blissful she was. Her heart was now much lighter, and she could take the liberty of sitting more nonchalantly on her chair and looking distractedly around her in the classroom, as if she wanted to say to each student who was listening to Professor Lupin: "Hey, look! Did you see how I passed this exam? "Exceeds Expectations"! Not bad, huh? And did I stress out? Of course, not!"

Anyway, if there was someone she had to thank for taking a weight off her shoulders and making her regain confidence, it was Mr Lupin! It was partly thanks to him that she was now in a good mood and smiling happily. Of course, she had managed to write the correct answers which had given her a good mark, but it was still Lupin who had marked her paper! And he had marked it so kindly, with so much toleration, indulgence and delicacy! This time, there was no doubt: Lupin was the nicest teacher in Hogwarts ever! He was the best teacher in the world! And Cat had now the greatest deal of respect for him. She even worshipped him secretly.

* * *

This could explain (or not) the many glances that Cat always had at Professor Lupin whenever she went past his classroom. It had almost become a habit. It was instinctive. As soon as she saw the open door to Lupin's classroom next to her, she automatically turned her head to this door, caught sight of Mr Lupin during a split second, then turned back her head and kept walking straight ahead. And she couldn't find any explanation to this brief and discreet movement. The truth was, she didn't even asked herself why she was doing it. It was just a natural gesture. Yet, a gesture that she made many times a day. At least twice: on her way to the Transfiguration classroom (in that case, she had to turn her head to the right), and on her way back, when she left McGonagall's classroom (then she had to turn her head to the left). Besides, it was now a good thing that her friends didn't care about what she was doing. They didn't notice anything of Cat's little game... But one day, it was Professor Lupin himself who noticed it.

She had had no problem on Tuesday (the day after she had received her paper), Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, however... What had to happen finally happened.

The corridor in which she was walking was full of Gryffindor students (probably in fourth year), standing in line against the wall, waiting next to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. When she went past them, Cat came to the conclusion that Professor Lupin must be in his classroom already, sitting behind his desk, writing some notes before letting his students come inside. So, when she went past the door, she turned her head, to have her usual glance... But... How disappointed she was! The door was open, but he was not inside. The room was empty, and so was the chair behind the teacher's desk. Well, never mind. It didn't matter. She couldn't have it both ways! She turned her head back, in order to keep walking ahead, and then...

What a surprise! Her heart skipped a beat. There he was! Right in front of her. Ten feet away from her, facing her, he was walking towards her to go to his classroom. And he was staring at her, with a suspicious look. He wasn't smiling. No, he was serious. And he was looking at her in such a way that it was clear he was asking himself questions. He had seen her! Cat was sure of it! Walking towards her, he had certainly seen her turn her head to his classroom. He had noticed her little game! He had confounded her! And she had just been caught red-handed...


	7. The signs of some strange confusion

**Chapter 7  
** _The signs of some strange confusion_

Even if the weather had been quite good during the first days of October, it started to be a bit less nice at mid-month. Each day was colder and wetter than the day before, both outside and inside the castle, so much so that the students now had to wear warmer clothes.

"I don't understand why you're still wearing short trousers, whereas winter is coming and the temperature has significantly dropped" Cherry said, looking at Cat's legs with almost horrified eyes.

The four friends were walking in the middle of Hogwarts' courtyard, treading upon the wet grass with a firm step. It seemed that they were the only Ravenclaws who had the crazy idea of going outside on this grey and rainy Saturday. The huge black clouds hanging in the sky really looked frightening, and that was enough to dissuade anyone from going for a walk in the courtyard. And yet... There they were, the four audacious (not to say crazy) girls, who chose to take the risk of strolling under gigantic clouds that could burst at any moment and pour hectolitres of rain. And one of those four girls was even more audacious (or even crazier) than the others, since she was wearing short trousers, while it was freezing cold.

"I'm not cold, though" Cat retorted. "My legs are never cold."

"Liar!" Axelle exclaimed, pointing at Cat's calves with an accusing forefinger. "Hafe you seen how purple your skin is?"

"Axelle, are you colour-blind, or what?" Anna worried. "Her skin is white, as usual..."

"Thanks for your support, Anna" Cat said with a smile, patting her friend's silver hair. "You'll get your money as soon as we get back to the castle. Anyway, coming back to the subject of my clothes, let me remind you that it's still autumn. And, in autumn, the weather is sometimes good!"

"Sometimes, yes..." Cherry agreed. "Except that, today, the weather is bad. The air is freezing and the weather is rainy!"

"Well, exactly!" Cat suddenly exclaimed. "So, why are we going out, while – I quote: (Cat started to imitate Cherry, exaggerating her superficial voice) _the air is freezing and the weather is rainy_?"

"We're going to watch Ravenclaw's Quidditch team's training session!" Cherry answered firmly, as she kept walking in an almost military way.

"And is it really worth the risk of getting soaked?"

"Of course, it is!" Anna replied suddenly, and her eyes began burning with passion. "We're talking about the Quidditch team of our House! The one that makes us proud and honoured, the one that will win the Cup this year, and that will prove to all Hogwarts the Ravenclaws' superiority! Going to their training session can only do good to the team members. When they see how much we support them – no matter what the weather brings, be it rain or snow – they'll be motivated and they'll play better than ever!"

"Yes" Axelle approved, "and what's more: some players are fery good-lookink! Like ze gorgeous Dafies, for instance!"

"Hmmm!" Cherry commented with a silly smile. "Oh! Imagine, if it starts raining! We'll see them with their soaked shirts stuck to their muscled chests!"

"Pathetic..." Cat sighed, looking away as if she was disgusted.

Maybe she'd better have stayed alone in the warm Ravenclaw common room, doing her homework or skimming through her Defense Against the Dark Arts book. That's what she told herself, when she and her friends arrived at the Quidditch pitch and as she was already starting to feel bored. Anna was truly enjoying herself, constantly encouraging the players who were flying above her head, cheering them and applauding them for each technical feat they managed to do on their brooms. Axelle was having fun ranking the most handsome boys of the team, complaining at the same time that the players were flying too fast for her to watch them properly. Cherry was trying to chat with Cho Chang, the Seeker, who was training sixteen feet above her, so that she was forced to shout to be heard. The two girls were talking about who wanted to go out with Cho and if the Chinese girl was interested in someone or not. In the meantime, Cat was doing... nothing.

She was just standing there, motionless and rooted to the spot. She didn't even bother to raise her head to look at the players. She was silently waiting for time to pass. She faded into the background – something that she did perfectly well. Who else than a thin girl, of medium height, with brown hair and brown eyes – in short, a girl who had the most ordinary appearance –, who else could blend into the scenery better than her? Nobody was paying attention to her presence anymore, nobody was seeing her anymore, she had become transparent. So transparent that she even wondered if she was still alive, if she hadn't finally turned into a ghost, like the ones that wandered in the corridors of Hogwarts.

And she was fed up. Terribly fed up. A constant question was whirling in her head annoyingly: what was she doing there? And why was she staying there? Couldn't she leave and stop acting like a vegetable? But what was she going to say to Axelle, Cherry and Anna to justify her departure? That was what held her back. She didn't dare. She didn't dare to leave, because she didn't know how to explain to them that she didn't want to stay there any longer. And yet, was she certain that her friends would notice her leaving? They didn't even notice her presence, so how could they notice her absence?

Cat turned around and had only the time to take three steps towards the castle, before Anna shouted at her:

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

Obviously. Obviously, Cat's every move was always being noticed when she didn't want to. She rolled her eyes to the dark grey sky, sighed with annoyance, then answered more harshly than she had wanted to:

"I'm getting cold, I'm going back to the castle."

And she didn't care about the comments that could follow her departure, she didn't care about what her friends could think after her leaving, and she didn't care if she had lied about her destination. In fact, she didn't walk to the castle. A sudden stroke of inspiration led her to the Forbidden Forest. She didn't know why, nor for what reasons, she wanted to stroll in that forest. Maybe these dark clouds were inciting her to go to an even darker place...

After all, she didn't go very deep in the forest. She was still a bit afraid of these woods, and being all alone didn't make things better. So, she stayed at the edge of the forest. It was still bright enough for her to see where she put her feet and enjoy her wandering. The ground on which she walked was covered by a bed of dead leaves, and some chestnut burrs could be seen already. She was reassured by the birds singing: at least, she wasn't totally alone. This sentence, coming from nowhere, proved it:

"Well, well... Out for a little walk and picking mushrooms, are we?"

Cat jumped, suddenly woken up from her slumber. She turned around, as quick as thunder, with her wand already in her right hand, and she glanced furtively in all directions, but she couldn't see the person who had spoken to her.

"Lower your head" the mysterious voice advised. "I'm not as big as you think!"

Surprised, Cat did what she had just been told, and examined the leaf litter in bewilderment. Her gaze abruptly fell on... a duck. Yes, a duck was standing there, six feet away from her. But it was not Vince's duck. This one was bigger and greyish, with small red feathers around his neck, and he looked funny with his large webbed feet and his big golden yellow beak. Cat was staring at him curiously.

"Hmmm... You're quite small, indeed..." she noted, tilting her head forward as if she wanted to have a better look at him.

"Right?" the web-footed bird said, clicking his beak. "But if you want me to, I can grow!"

"Please, do!" Cat answered with a smile.

A few seconds later, a young man was standing there, in place of the duck. And this young man was no one else than Vince. Oh yes! Who would have thought that a duck enthusiast would be so enthusiast as to become an Animagus and be able to turn into a duck as often as he liked? What's more, he was an unregistered Animagus. His name did not appear on the Animagus Registry of the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain. But he didn't care. This way, he could better understand ducks, live like them, share their emotions and – that's what he was the most proud of – he could have fun with his own and real duck, Quackquack, have long conversations and take long strolls with him. Let's not forget that he was also able to follow Cat secretly and stay as discreet as possible. Who could pay attention to a duck, really? Even Cat had to spend some time before finding him!

"It's true that a duck wandering in the forest looks a bit weird..." Cat noted. "Let's say it looks out of context."

"Hey! I can't do anything about it!" Vince exclaimed, raising his hands innocently. " _You_ brought me here!"

"You didn't have to follow me!" Cat replied.

"Anyway, I'm glad to see your Quack Grasping potion is still effective. It was a good idea to give it to you, otherwise you would never have understood a single word of what I said in my duck form. You would only have heard some "Quack quack quackquack quack quack...", like any other human who never drank the potion. And you see that only one gulp is enough for you to understand the duck language for your whole life. Lifelong and guaranteed effect!"

"May I conclude that I'm very lucky to be able to hear everything your duck says?"

"Quackquack? Oh, he seldom speaks! I'm more talkative than him."

"You don't need to tell me!" Cat commented under her breath, not to be heard, and rolling her eyes. "Anyway, to come back to the initial subject, may I know why you were following me?"

"Well, at first, I was wandering in the courtyard: I was walking and sometimes running, to improve my acceleration skills, and trying by the way to take flight – you know that I still have some difficulties taking off?"

"Vince, make it short and come to the point!" Cat curtly said.

"Well, I saw you passing by a few feet away from me, and when I noticed that you were heading all alone to the Forbidden Forest, I started to worry. I care a lot about you, you know? And I don't want something bad to happen to you. So, I thought it right to follow you, as a duck and without you knowing, to keep an eye on you and ensure your protection, just in case."

"What did you think could happen to me?" Cat asked with suspicious eyes. "You were worried that a chestnut burr might fall from the sky and down upon my head?"

At this very moment, a chestnut burr came off one of the branches of the tree under which Cat stood, and she received it right on her head, with a resounding _PUFF!_

"For instance" Vince agreed, as her friend was now half knocked out. "Anyway, if you don't want me to stay, tell me, I can go."

"No! No! Stay!" begged the wounded, who now had a bump on her head. "I'm glad you're here! I felt rather alone, in fact..."

"Why don't you go with your friends? Axelle, Cherry and Anna, if I remember their names correctly..."

"Actually, I was with them a moment ago. But... Let's say I didn't stay with them for too long. Once again, I felt left behind... So, if I have to be left behind, I prefer to be alone and not among other people, who only accentuate this feeling of insignificance. That's why I left them and I went for a walk alone. I like being alone with myself, with my thoughts, with my own emotions. Except that, sometimes, I'd like someone else to be by my side, someone with whom I could share my thoughts and my emotions..."

"It looks like I came at the right time" Vince said, smiling. "So, tell me, what emotions are you going to share with me, today? Your deep admiration for the, oh, so handsome singer of Avada Kedavra – the only metal band who have to prohibit the carrying of wands to their spectators, for fear that they would cast the Killing Curse by singing out loud: " _Avadaaa Kedavraaa! Avadaaa Kedavraaa!_ " during their concerts?"

Cat couldn't help giggling.

"Indeed! If you want me to, I can talk to you about him!" she answered, finding back her good mood and slightly blushing.

"Oh, no, thanks, you already talked me to death about him!"

"Very well. But don't talk me to death with your stories about ducks. Like, for instance, the love season of ducks, the courtship ritual of ducks, the nesting season of ducks..."

"Yet, a duck is so interesting! Do you know, for instance, that I can drink soup much faster when I'm a duck than when I'm a human?"

"Really?"

"Well, yes... It's duck soup!"

Cat stared at her friend wearily.

"Hey! I'm just trying to put a smile back on your face!" Vince explained. "So, what can we talk about? Except Avada Kedavra, you don't have much to speak of."

"Is that an insult?" Cat grunted, grasping her friend by the collar of his green shirt.

"No, it's an observation!"

"I assure you that your observation is wrong!" Cat answered, calming down and releasing her friend. "I assure you that I can have plenty of other topics of conversation. Let's see... Er..."

Cat bent her head, as if staring at her feet would help her think better. What could she talk with Vince about? Talk! That was a big word! Rave would be more appropriate. That was their true hobby! But, today, Cat wasn't very inspired by what they could rave about. Unless... No! No, it wasn't a very interesting topic of conversation. Even less a good subject of raving. No, Cat had to find something else...

She raised her head and now stared at the leaves of the trees. Yellow leaves that moved under the breeze... But, after all, why not? What was wrong in talking about him? And she wanted to... She wanted to talk about him so much... Just to mention him... Why? Why did she feel like speaking of him so much? This irresistible urge that was boiling in her, that asked nothing more than to be set free, was held back by the thought that it would be useless, that Vince would probably not be interested, and that he would end the subject shortly and naturally. Yes but, at least, she would have mentioned him. Not for long, but she would have done it. And she couldn't help it. This urge was turning into a need.

"Alright, I've found something" she finally said. "I've wanted to talk to you about it for a long time, now..." she noted with a small smile.

She paused to stare at the attentive face of her friend, who was waiting for her to go on.

"You know... Mr Lupin..." she started with a little voice.

"What? Is he a fan of Avada Kedavra?" Vince asked with excitement. "Does he love ducks?"

Once again, Cat burst out laughing. She definitely couldn't keep a straight face with Vince around.

"No! No, it's not that! It's just that... I find him nice, don't you?"

"I think you already asked me this question, the last time we met" Vince commented. "But yes, I find him nice too... He's a good teacher..."

"Right? Well, what I wanted to tell you is that... now, each time I go past his classroom, I turn my head to see if he's there. Even if I saw him earlier that day, in Defense class, I still look at him again, distractedly. Anyway, yesterday, as I was passing by his classroom, I naturally turned my head. But it was only to realise that he wasn't there. The classroom was empty. So I turned my head back, to keep walking straight ahead and not to bump against a wall, and there, what did I see? I saw Professor Lupin, who was right in front of me, looking at me!" she finished, giggling.

"Ah, this famous teacher!" Vince exclaimed, smiling too and giving Cat a malicious glance. "He certainly saw that your tie was correctly put, now that I taught you how to tie it. Who knows? Maybe he has a thing for you!"

Cat only answered with another burst of laughter. Finally, this topic had not fallen through. They were even raving about it! Cat was happy, because she had been so worried about this subject, and she had wanted to mention it and laugh about it so much. Now, she was laughing heartily about it. Thanks to Vince.

"But, tell me" Vince said, while her friend was trying to calm down, "why do you try to have a look at him, when you walk past his classroom?"

Facing this quite embarrassing question, Cat suddenly turned serious. In fact, she had already asked herself this problematic question, and she had found no specific answer. No particular explanation. Not even a hypothesis. Or maybe yes...

"Well, in fact, he's the only decent-looking teacher of Hogwarts" she said, shrugging. "You can still try to search elsewhere, you won't find much competition: Professor Snape, Professor Flitwick, Professor Binns, Hagrid, or even Professor Dumbledore, they're quite homely. Professor Lupin is the most decent-looking teacher, I think..."

"Decent-looking..." Vince repeated, as if he was trying to swallow this word. "Decent-looking! Pfff... What a vocabulary! Please, don't tell me you want to have it off with a teacher!"

Vince burst out laughing, but Cat remained silent. She stayed impassive and motionless, as the blood rushed to her head, making her look redder than ever. She clearly felt her cheeks burning. She was somehow surprised and shocked by Vince's last words, and the simple evocation of some kind of sexual intercourse with Professor Lupin made her blush with utmost awkwardness, as she would never have thought of such a thing. But she was also blushing because she was feeling the urge to reply right now, immediately, to make Vince understand that what he had just said was distasteful, despicable, unacceptable and totally misplaced.

"I think you should pay attention to _your_ vocabulary!" she retorted. "Not only is it disrespectful, but it is also disgusting, for me as well as for Professor Lupin."

"No, it is disrespectful only for Mr Lupin" Vince rectified. "I know you're worth better than that."

"Hmmm... I hope so..." Cat said, a bit sceptical.

"However, you shouldn't say that a teacher is decent-looking. It's not very polite either" Vince added, smiling.

"Okay, but if I tell you that he's the most handsome teacher, you're going to have misconceptions about what I think of him" Cat explained, looking abashed.

"Of course not!" Vince assured, with a smile that proved the opposite. "I would only tease you and sing: _"Oh, wait! Oh, dear! Good grief! It's clear... She's in love! She's in love!"_ "

Cat opened her eyes wide with surprise and immediately turned red, as Vince's song was ringing out in the forest like a siren. This time, she didn't feel her cheeks burning: she felt them carbonising. She was terribly hot, terribly embarrassed – almost ashamed – but terribly laughing too. As usual, Vince was making her laugh. And so, between two giggles, she grasped her friend's neck to try to strangle him for good.

"Stop it!" she shouted, since she couldn't manage to put a stop to his friend's stupid song. "Shut your mouth! That's not true at all! That's not true, do you hear me? I'm not in love with him!"

"Aaah!" Vince finally moaned, putting his hands over his ears. "Stop shouting! I got it!"

"Hey!" Cat protested, letting go of her friend. " _Who_ 's been shouting, huh? Now, what I wanted you to understand is that all of this is for fun. Glancing at Mr Lupin is nothing more than a little pleasure of the eyes. At least, now, I have something in Hogwarts to look at, and some motivation to go to Charms or Transfiguration classes, because I pass by his classroom whenever I go to these classes."

She had spoken with honesty and truth, like she used to do when she confided in Vince, without adding any ornamental lie (contrary to Axelle who invented plenty of details when she told her stories), and without hiding anything either. What surprised her, though, was that she had managed to express a truth that she had not admitted before: looking at Mr Lupin was a "pleasure of the eyes". She found him attractive. This, she had never admitted before. Not even when she had searched an answer that could have justified her many glances at him. But she had said it now: she found him attractive. True, she hadn't praised, nor trumpeted the beauty of his face, but she had clearly implied it. What did she find attractive in him? She didn't really know... His eyes, maybe... Or perhaps the light brown and greyish hair strands falling on his forehead... Or maybe his thin and discreet moustache... Or even his hands... She had no idea... Everything, perhaps? Oh, anyway, what did she care? It was just an entertainment, a simple pastime. Mr Lupin was the most pleasant looking teacher, and that was all! She was not going to rack her brains nor take a closer look to him to know what she liked in him. The raving ended there. There was nothing more to investigate.

But still, Cat was very glad that she had mentioned Professor Lupin to Vince at last. She felt so better now that she had told him. She was even relieved. Not because she was happy to be rid of this strange topic and she didn't plan on talking about it again, but, on the contrary, because she had just introduced this subject, and now she could keep on talking about it, if she wanted to.

A small raindrop fell on Cat's cheek and woke her up from her thoughts. She raised her head and looked at the dark sky that she could see through the foliage of the trees and that soon poured some more water.

"I think it's time for me to leave you" Cat said, looking at her friend. "I'm wearing short trousers and, by the time I arrive to the castle to shelter from the rain, I'll be already entirely soaked."

"So go back quickly to the castle!" Vince advised. "I still can turn into a duck and don't have my clothes soaked."

"By the way, what about seeing each other next Tuesday, after dinner? Now that it's been a month since we've started school again, we'd better resume our good old habits!"

"Our long discussions by the fireplace? Hmmm... If you want! Next Tuesday, eight o'clock, in the common room. Code name: Quackquack!"

Vince turned into a duck, and Cat ran to the castle, as quick as possible, not to suffer from the rain for too long.

* * *

The next day, on Sunday, the weather had not changed and was as miserable as the day before. During the training session of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, Axelle, Cherry and Anna had been soaked by the rain shower and had been forced to go back to the castle urgently, shortly after Cat. So, now, they had learnt the lesson, and neither of them suggested going out in the courtyard again. The lunch went smoothly in the Great Hall and was only disturbed by the arrival of the howls bringing the mails. Since the birds were rain-drenched, they had fun reproducing a small rainfall in the hall by shaking their wings above the students' heads.

"Unbelievable!" Cherry grumbled, standing up from her bench, as her long hair was now soaked, as if she had taken a shower. "I had my hair blow-dried five minutes ago, and now I have to start it all over."

"Fortunately, Plumpshanks wasn't here" Cat noted. "I don't think he would have appreciated this rush of water."

Axelle, abashed, was stirring her mashed potatoes that had turned into a soup.

"I need to change. I'm going back to the dormitory" Cherry announced with an irritated voice.

"I'll join you soon" Anna answered. "I have a lot of Arithmancy homework to do."

"Oh! It's true! We also have homework to do, in Divination" Cat remembered, talking to Axelle, who was too busy raising her plate to her mouth to drink her mashed potatoes.

"Really?" the blond girl answered, not very interested.

"Yes! We have to do some research on the different oracles from the fifteenth century to nowadays, who could have made predictions thanks to their dreams..."

"In zat case, we must go to ze library" Axelle said, brutally putting down her empty plate on the table, before she stood up. "Let's gooo!"

To their greatest surprise, when they arrived to the library with their notebooks and books of Divination, Cat and Axelle saw that the place was crowded. They had never seen so many people in the study room. They wondered why... But maybe it was because they almost never went to the library. The bad weather had surely something to do with it, forcing the students to stay locked up, with no entertainment but their homework.

The two Ravenclaws entered the populous room, which was quite oppressive with human warmth and intellectual sweat. They could hear the constant noise of turned pages, the scratching sound of pencils on the paper, the whispers of students, and the hysterical cries of Madam Pince. The vulture-like librarian was overwhelmed with all these students she had to watch, and she was spinning around like a crazy weathercock, telling off anyone who dared to speak louder than the maximal authorised decibel level (and this level wasn't put very high), at a rate of around one scolded student every ten seconds. When Cat saw this, walking between the rows of occupied tables to follow Axelle, she told herself that maybe they would have better stayed in the common room to do their homework. But she didn't know that, in a few moments, she was going to change her mind.

"Ofer zere, zere's a place!" the German girl said, as her friend was feeling more and more uncomfortable by all these people.

Cat stopped looking at the neurotic librarian and looked at the place at which Axelle was pointing with her forefinger. Indeed, in the left corner of the room, besides a window and an old shelf full of books, there was an empty table left. As the two girls started to walk towards this table, Cat noticed that... at the next table sat Professor Lupin. Her heart skipped a beat and, this time, she didn't wonder why. She started to get used to it.

"Merlin's beard!" she said under her breath, still following Axelle (who was heading to the unoccupied table), without looking where she was going and staring at Mr Lupin with wide eyes.

Unbelievable! The teachers were going to the library to work too? She had thought this place was for students only... Yes, but how many times had she gone to the library? Not enough to draw up a list of its regulars. So, it was useless to keep this big stupid smile on her face: if a teacher was among the students, it was totally normal.

But she wasn't smiling out of surprise. She was smiling because she was happy. She was happy that he was there, happy to see him, and happy... because she was going to sit to a table right next to him! Right next to him! Inconceivable! She was so lucky! She couldn't believe her eyes. The closer she got to him, the more she realised the incredible luck she had. "I'm going to sit close to him! I'm going to sit close to him!". Yes, and if she kept not watching where she was walking, she was going to do more than sit...

"We're lucky, huh?" Axelle said, when they finally reached the empty table.

"OH YES!" Cat answered, louder than she had wanted to, in some kind of roar of happiness, losing all control of her tremendous joy and of her voice.

Half the people in the library turned to her, and Lupin was no exception, as he raised his surprised eyes to her.

"TELL-ME-YOUNG-LADY-OVER-THERE, ARE YOU DEAF OR WHAT? I TOLD EVERYONE TO SPEAK QUIETER!"

If Madam Pince's intention had been to make Cathie Mist turn red with shame, well, she had succeeded. But still, Cat didn't lose her train of thought: if she wanted to take advantage of this incredible situation, she had to use this opportunity and sit as close to Mr Lupin as possible. Maybe not to his table (even though he was the only person to occupy it, and so there were still three empty places left around him), but right next to him. The table that the two Ravenclaws had chosen was stuck between the window and the teacher's table, so Cat had to sit by Lupin's side, and not by the window's side. And if she wanted to be close enough to him, she had to sit in the same direction as him, in order to be on his left, and not in front of him. Yes, it was a bit complicated, but she had only a few seconds to plan everything in detail, while she was heading to the place that she coveted so much.

She was so intimidated to be only a few inches away from him now, and so afraid of making a fool of herself by making a misstep, that she was somehow trembling with emotions, even feeling her legs weakening under her weight. This slight anxiety was also due to the fact that, for the first time in her life, she wanted a particular seat, and not another one, and for nothing in the world she would have wanted it to be stolen by someone else.

At last, she put her hand on the back of the chair on which she had set her sights, pulled it out and let herself fall on it with relief. At last! There she was! And she had managed to do it with no difficulty, and quickly enough to prevent Axelle from stealing her seat. The blond girl made do with the chair that was left and sat in front of Cat, who was secretly enjoying the privilege of sitting next to Mr Lupin. This seat was fantastic! Whereas she had never thrown any tantrum to sit at a particular place, whereas she had often contented herself with the last seat left, she had just managed, for the first time in her life, to sit exactly where she had always wanted to sit.

And this chair was very comfortable. Honestly, she had made a very good choice! Not to speak of the view that she had on Mr Lupin! It was splendid! He sat to her right, only separated from her by the empty space between the two tables, no more than twenty inches. If she wanted to, she only had to stretch her arm to touch him.

The teacher didn't suspect anything. He didn't know he was being observed. Instead, he seemed immersed in a deep reflection, half bent over a roll of parchment that he filled with some notes. Several books were scattered on his table, and among them _Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts, First Tome_. The teacher was probably preparing his next lesson... He stopped writing and, as if he was seeking inspiration, he looked ahead, while scratching his chin with the top of his white quill. His amber eyes, staring at nothing, had still some kind of nostalgic gleam. But it certainly didn't spoil their beauty. Professor Lupin's eyes remained definitely beautiful. From where she sat, Cat could gaze at his white and cleanly shaved cheeks, at his jaw curve, which was not too strong and not too thin either, but truly masculine, and which made him look like an adult and accomplished man. She could also gaze at the few white hair that he had here and there among his chestnut hair.

"A pleasure of the eyes", as she had told Vince. But shouldn't she stop looking at him that way? What did she really think of him? Maybe it was time to take stock... Was he her kind of man? In truth, she had never had a particular kind of man, even if... Well, she often felt attracted to older men. Like the singer of Avada Kedavra, for example: he was thirty eight, and so what? Mr Lupin must be in his thirties as well... Thirty five, maybe? That meant that he was twenty years older than her... Wasn't it too old? Moreover, his thin moustache and his greyish hair made him look more like he was forty than thirty... Yes, but it was only a slight and simple physical attraction, nothing more.

Nothing more than something physical, then? Cat surprised herself. She had always had difficulty understanding her friends who only cared about how the boys looked like. She had thought she would never ever come to that kind of superficiality and always give priority to the inner beauty rather than the physical beauty... Did she content herself only with how Lupin looked like?

No. No, she was attracted by his inner beauty too. He was extremely kind, even tender, without actually being simple. On the contrary, he was very intelligent, very rational. The words he spoke were both wise and sweet, and so pleasant to the ears. And even if his teaching profession gave him some kind of speech fluency, Cat could sense that there were still some traces of shyness and lack of confidence in him. That was why he was a quite discreet man, not extravagant at all. That was why he looked a bit like her. Was she glad he looked like her? Yes, somehow, it made her smile with satisfaction. So, was there something more? Beyond physical attraction? Wasn't there, hidden under this physical attraction, the beginning of love?

"So?" Axelle asked.

Cat suddenly jumped. She immediately stopped looking at Professor Lupin and focused back on her friend.

"S... So... Er..." she stammered, trying to answer Axelle, but she had no idea what the blond girl was talking about.

Unless her friend had read her mind and was asking: "So? Are you in love with him?". But no, it was impossible!

"Er... Well... Yes, it's good here..." she finally answered, very evasively and awkwardly.

"Cat, are you sure you were wiz me, a bit earlier?" Axelle asked, with some concern in her blue eyes, clearly making her friend understand that she had not answered correctly. "I told you zat maybe we should start lookink for interestink books about ze oracles and zeir premonitory dreams..."

"Oh!" Cat exclaimed, a bit confused. "Well, yes! Yes, yes! That's a very good idea! Go on!"

"What? Aren't you comink wiz me?"

"No, no... I prefer to stay here, to write the introduction of my essay. I'll write yours too, if you want!"

She had said these words with a sorry smile, to try to be forgiven for her laziness, but, in truth, she wanted to leave her seat for nothing in the world, in order to stay close to him as long as possible and not to miss a thing. Besides, if she didn't move from her chair, she avoided having to walk in front of him, with the risk of stumbling and falling on the floor, before his eyes. She chose both comfort and security. Axelle, however, went to the first bookshelf (which was right next to Cat) while muttering to herself with discontent. As she was sliding her forefinger on the cover of each book, to briefly review all the copies, in a bored and tired way, she grumbled a series of words which were all equally unintelligible, so much so that Cat wondered with a mocking smile if her friend was not actually talking German.

"I'fe had enough! I can't find anyzink!" she complained after three minutes of useless search.

Cat, who was busy staring secretly at the wizard sitting on her right, saw him raise his head from his roll of parchment and look at Axelle, before he moved his lips.

"I think I saw some books about Divination on this bookshelf" he said, pointing with the top of his quill at another shelf full of books, which was a bit further. "You'll probably find some interesting things."

The two Ravenclaws smiled with delight, and it was Axelle who had the honour of thanking the teacher, since she was the most concerned by the investigations. Cat contented herself with smiling at Mr Lupin, to express her gratitude. The man smiled back, with one of his nicest smiles which made his face even more pleasant looking, as he was happy to be helpful. Then, he bent over his writings once again, and his secret observer decided to do the same. She started to write the introduction of her copy in which she was going to talk about "The oracles from the fifteenth century to nowadays, and their premonitory dreams".

"Here is all I'fe found!" Axelle said, coming back to Cat's table, carrying in her arms a pile of books that rose up to her nose. "Lupin was right: it's a real gold mine!"

The blond girl suddenly stumbled and dropped all the books on the table, with a deafening sound, before she knocked her forehead against the edge of the table and she collapsed to the ground. Cat opened her eyes wide with stupefaction, then looked feverishly to her right, to be sure that Professor Lupin had seen nothing of this shameful incident. Alas, like half the people in the library, his eyes were also fixed on the scene of the drama and on the poor girl who was dying on the floor.

"Are you alright?" he worried, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright! Nozink's broken!" Axelle answered, with her face still squashed against the floor, but raising a trembling hand to show that she was still alive.

Then, Lupin glanced at the friend of the victim, and both smiled at each other in an embarrassed way.

When the German girl was back among the living, properly seated on her chair, but with a big bump above her eyebrows, the two friends could start their homework at last. It was deadly boring, and they had to read pages and pages of writings and take notes of the less soporific details. But Cat couldn't complain. Far from it! She could even have stayed there all day, as long as Mr Lupin was there and as long as she could glance at him from time to time.

For their essay, the two Ravenclaws used a total of one and a half scroll of parchment each. After two hours of tireless work, they finally packed up and stood up to leave the library. While snaking in and out of the tables behind her friend, Cat looked back one last time at Professor Lupin, who was still busy skimming through a book. As she walked through the door and left the study room behind her, she told herself – with a smile on her lips and still filled with emotion, as if she had just had a dream – that she had had a very good time, and that she had never stayed so long and so close to Professor Lupin...


	8. A little bit in love

**Author's Note:** Some reviews would be nice...

* * *

 **Chapter 8  
** _A little bit in love_

It was morning. One of these sweet – although a bit chilly – mornings, with a beautiful sunny blue sky. Cat was wandering in the High Street of Hogsmeade, enjoying the sunlight. There were already some passer-bys, but the street remained peaceful. She was walking and looking distractedly at the shops across the street. Honeydukes, maybe...

And then, she saw him... Over there, on the opposite pavement, walking in her direction. It was him. His short and chestnut hair, his pale but smiling face, his moustache, his big grey cloak, his greenish jacket... He was several feet away from her, but she recognised him immediately. He was walking quietly, in the company of other teachers. They weren't many, only three or four. Cat couldn't see who they were, for their faces were blurred. All she was staring at, all she was seeing, was him. With his hands in the pockets of his trousers, with his head slightly lowered – to look at the ground in front of him –, he was laughing at what his colleagues were talking about, probably in the middle of a funny discussion.

The group of teachers soon passed by Cat and disappeared from her view. Cat kept walking, a little bit more troubled than she was a few seconds before, still wandering with no particular purpose... But maybe her purpose had just passed by and disappeared behind her? She suddenly turned around, her heart beating with the desire to know where Mr Lupin was going...

The period of time that followed was absolutely nebulous. It could have been several seconds, as well as it could have been several hours. Short and long at the same time. But totally undefinable. The fact remained that she was now there, sitting on a park bench, in the middle of a small deserted square whose ground was covered with a thin layer of gravel. There were some trees, and maybe also a children's playground, a bit further...

And he was with her... He was there, sitting next to her, on the bench, very close, on her left, so close... that they touched... In total confidence, she let herself lean against him... He had tenderly put his right arm around her waist, drawing her body closer to his... His embrace was so warmhearted... She was nestled against his chest, giving herself over to him, feeling absolutely safe, and, at the same time, taking from him all the serenity he was offering her... The atmosphere was quiet, they were alone... Everything was silent, they were with each other... Lost in a haven of peace, sharing a common euphoria... With no ulterior motive, no pleasure, no carnal desire, only this vast purity... A chaste embrace that aroused feelings she had never had, never hoped for... This physical contact – that made her feel the warmth of his body – gave her the sensation that the chilly air was so pleasantly mild... This embrace had some infinite gentleness... Some gentleness that she felt by touching his clothes, his skin... By feeling his soft chest... She could feel some intense tenderness too... She was feeling his hand, so warm, put on her back, in such a protective way...

A new breach in time occurred, both tiny and eternal. The man and the young lady were still on the bench, embracing each other... Everything seemed the same, and yet, something had changed... Their feeling had materialised into a kiss... She didn't remember it distinctly, but she knew she had kissed him... She had the vague memory of feeling that same kind of gentleness and tenderness, in such an exquisite way, on her lips and on her tongue... She even still felt this sensation, as if this kiss had been tattooed on her mouth... Tattooed...

* * *

Very often, dreams vanish. In deep sleeps, they awaken and come to life, in such a real way that they seem true. But at the awakening, they flee and go hide in a dark recess of the memory, where it is sometimes hard to find them back...

That's what happened when Cat weakly opened her eyes. She was lying down in her cosy bed, under her thick blanket that covered her up to her nose. Still feeling drowsy after this good night's rest, her first concern was to notice that the dormitory was plunged into darkness and that all the other girls were still asleep. Naive and innocent, she had no idea that she had had a dream during the night. It was only when she silently stood up from her bed that she perceived the first strange sensations that she was going to feel all morning long.

Without her knowing, the dream had left its after-effects in her soul and in her flesh. But these after-effects were by no means harmful, on the contrary. They were the remnants of some infinite gentleness and infinite tenderness. It was impossible for Cat to know where these sensations were coming from, but in fact she didn't really wonder about it. Everything she was aware of, and everything that mattered to her, was that she was feeling good. She felt so incredibly good in her skin, like she had never felt before. This euphoria was both psychological and physical. With no particular reason, she felt so cheerful, so happy.

She brushed her teeth with a smile, made a face of satisfaction to her reflection in the mirror and found this reflection not so bad looking, after all. Maybe she was joyful because the weather was good – that's what she thought when she looked out the window of the bathroom, illuminated by the sunshine. She had such a light mood, today! She felt so light she could have had wings, to jump out of this sunlit window and fly to the clear blue sky. Alright, she was perfectly aware that she didn't have wings and that, if she really jumped out of this window, she would fall like a rock, crash and produce a good tomato juice. But the fact remained that she felt as if a weight had lifted off her chest. As if she had always been afraid of something in her life, and now she didn't fear it anymore. She felt so tenderly free, and so good!

She sensed this bliss even more clearly when she dressed up. She was filled with an impression of great tenderness, just by touching her clothes and feeling the fabric on her skin. When she made her bed, she had the sensation of an exquisite caress just by brushing the sheets. Her movements were slow but sure, and always well guided. She was moving calmly, as if she was floating... Like in a dream... Like in the dream she had had but that she couldn't remember... Maybe she was still dreaming, without realising it? Maybe it was a magical dream which had the strange power to overcome the barriers between illusion and reality, and make a link between the state of being asleep and the state of being awake? Cat didn't know for sure if she was still asleep or if she was truly conscious. The ocean of gentleness that irrigated her being was so intense that it was almost incredible. And its effects were so good that she wanted them to stop by no means. She wanted to enjoy this strange happiness, let herself be gently rocked, continuously.

That's how she felt during breakfast in the Great Hall, and during her first class in the morning. Indeed, she sincerely enjoyed this Potions class, even if it lasted two long hours. Everything around her seemed enjoyable and beautiful. She was truly intoxicated by this gentleness. And this growing intoxication was gradually turning into some kind of drowsiness, that nobody noticed...

* * *

When Cat sank into the huge and soft crimson armchair of the Divination classroom, it was the height of ecstasy, and she could identify what she felt as a true sensual pleasure.

"Cat, are you sure you're alright? Your eyes look weird..." Axelle worried, sitting on a purple pouffe next to her friend.

"Er... Yes, of course I'm alright!" Cat assured, straightening up a bit, to sit more decently and try to emerge from her drowsiness.

"Ah, phew! I was afraid zat ze incense had finally made you feel sick."

"Good morning, my children" said the mysterious voice of Professor Trelawney, who emerged from behind a pile of teacups that rose up to the ceiling. "For today, you had some homework to do for me, if I'm not mistaken and if I believe what my Inner Eye has whispered to me... Please, put your homework on your table, and don't forget to take out your diary of dreams, to continue it. In the meantime, I'll go and see each one of you, to take back the essay you had to write and cast an eye over your diary..."

"Excuse me, Madam" Axelle interrupted, raising her hand, "but which one of your zree eyes will you cast?"

Half the students in the classroom burst out laughing, and Trelawney seemed to be the only person who didn't hear the German girl, for – instead of answering to Axelle – she looked surprised by all those laughs, which made the situation even funnier.

"Come on, let's be serious now" Axelle said, pulling herself together and opening the notebook in which she had written down all her dreams. "What hafe you dreamt of, last night? For my part, I don't remember..."

Cat, with a constant smile on her face, suddenly stopped moving and locked her gaze on her friend, staying motionless for long seconds.

"What's ze matter?" the blond girl asked. "Is somezink wronk?"

"Er..." Cat said hesitantly and a little bemused. "No, no, everything's alright. It's just that... I don't remember the dream I had last night either..."

"Arrh! Now you understand what it's like! It's weird, huh? Zat's why ze homework Trelawney asks us to do is sometimes impossible: we can't always remember our dreams. In fact, I efen beliefe I didn't hafe any dream last night..."

"Yes, but it's different for me... I'm quite sure I had a dream, but I can't recall it..."

She raised her head and looked at the ceiling of the dimly lit room, frowning, as if this inspection was going to help her remember the dream she had had. Now she knew she had had a dream, but she couldn't recall it. And she wanted, she really wanted to know what her dream had been about. This feeling of having a memory lapse, of being amnesiac, was bothering her more than she could have imagined. At the same time, though, she wondered why she needed to know her dream so much. But she couldn't help it. She had to focus, to appeal to her reflection, to explore the subconscious of her sleep. She wanted to find back this dream, because, deep down, she knew it was important. The thought that this dream might be the source of her euphoric mood suddenly crossed her mind.

And then, she remembered. Everything came back in a few seconds, in a succession of pictures that appeared in her head: the image of a group of teachers walking in a street of Hogsmeade, the face of Mr Lupin among them, the vision of herself, sitting on a bench and cuddled up to Professor Lupin, and finally that feeling of having kissed him, tenderly...

All these memories made Cat's heart skip a beat. Her face turned red more quickly than ever. She had dreamt of _that_? Merlin's beard! She had really dreamt of _that_? How on earth could her imagination have produced such a dream? Alright, dreaming of Mr Lupin was not totally a surprise – particularly since she had been strongly intrigued by him, three days earlier, at the library – but dreaming that she embraced him and... kissed him, _this_ was going too far... Although... On second thought, if she imagined the scene once again, feeling the gentle sensations that this dream had brought her, Cat told herself that all of this was not so unpleasant...

Her surprise finally faded away and gave way to bliss. She saw herself once again, sitting on that bench, affectionately nestled against Professor Lupin's body, resting with absolute confidence... It was beautiful... Yes, it was beautiful... After all, there was nothing shocking nor shameful in that fantasy. It was only a dream! Cat could even be proud of it, proud of imagining such a poetic thing in her mind, and she could be happy about it, because, now, the after-effects of this dream made her float in an ocean of tenderness and gentleness. But she shouldn't forget about reality. She had to pull herself together! Axelle was there, beside her, and she was waiting for her to find back her dream and tell her about it. Yet, even if Cat really enjoyed her dream now, the same would surely not apply for her friend. If she found out that Cat had dreamt that she was snogging her Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Axelle would certainly not go beyond the stage of stupefaction... Or maybe she would, but only to move to the stage of teasing...

"So? Hafe you found it?" the blond girl asked, staring at her friend with her big blue eyes.

"N... No..." Cat stammered clumsily, already feeling a drop of sweat running down her temple.

"Hmmm... Are you sure? A moment ago, you looked like you wanted to remember it so much..."

Although Cat was trying to look innocently at Axelle, she finally looked daggers at her, during a split second, then turned back into indifference.

"Yes, I tried to remember it, but I didn't succeed" she proclaimed, as an irrevocable sentence.

But, alas, that would be forgetting Axelle's natural suspicion and curiosity. The blond girl insisted once again, to Cat's great displeasure.

"Yet, you turned fery red, while you were concentratink... It surely means zat you remembered it..."

Cat opened her eyes wide with exasperation and felt a vein throbbing on her temple.

"No, I tell you!" she exclaimed, louder than she had wanted. "If I turned red, it's only because I was frustrated not to be able to recall it! Besides, you know that my face is naturally flushed, with no particular reason..."

"Yes..." Axelle admitted, with a sceptical look, though. "By ze way, you're fery, _fery_ flushed..."

"But, but, but..." Cat stuttered, waving both her hands around her, as if she wanted to prove her innocence by all means.

"I wonder what's ze matter wiz you..."

"Nothiiiiinnng!" yelled the brown-haired tomato with a hysterical voice. "Maybe it's the heat in the room..."

Indeed, it was particularly hot in the Divination classroom. However, by losing her temper, Cat had become even more heated and now she could feel her two cheeks burning as if her head was stuck in a toaster. While she was trying to cool off by waving her hands like fans near her face, she saw someone come to her table. Someone to whom she wanted to confide her dream even less.

"So, my darlings, have you made any progress in your diary?" Professor Trelawney asked, joining her twisted hands and staring at the two girls with her huge mantis-like eyes.

"Gah..." Cat moaned, closing her eyes and opening her mouth as if she was dying, for she sincerely thought that things couldn't be worse.

"Well, actually" Axelle said, frowning, "Cat refuses to tell me about her dream so zat I can interpret it!"

The teacher turned her head to Cat, and this movement made her big earrings jingle. The Ravenclaw's view was now obstructed by the professor's huge eyeballs shining with concern.

"Is it true?" Trelawney asked, with a high-pitched voice full of consternation.

"Of... Of course, not!" Cat protested, turning even redder. "I just told her that I couldn't remember this dream anymore!"

"Zat you _couldn't_ , or zat you _didn't want to_?" Axelle asked, with a mischievous smile.

"ZAT I COULDN'T!" Cat shouted, banging her fist on the table, which made Professor Trelawney jump.

"You're lyink! I know fery well zat you remembered it, but you don't want to tell me about it! Axelle always knows when someone is lyink to her!"

"And does Axelle always know when she's getting on someone's nerves?"

Boiling over with rage, Cat desperately turned to Trelawney, seeking her help, even if she already knew it would be to useless.

"Hmmm..." the Divination teacher said, shaking her head with scepticism. "My Inner Eye tells me that you're hiding something from us..."

Dismayed. Cat was totally dismayed. Even the teacher started with that as well!

"For Merlin's sake!" Cat cried. "I'm telling you I can't remember it!"

"Cat" Axelle said, putting her hands on the table, looking serious, "I know you always act for ze sake of Merlin, but I'm still confinced zat you refuse to tell us ze dream you had."

"Why so?" Trelawney asked, sounding upset.

Cat buried her face in her hands, looking desperate.

"Personally, I hafe no idea! Zere's nozink to be ashamed of by tellink a dream... Un... Unless..."

Cat suddenly raised her head to look at Axelle.

"Oh, yes, of couuurse!" the blond girl exclaimed with a big smile. "Of course! Now, I see why she doesn't want to tell us!"

"Rea... Really?" Cat asked, taken aback. She wondered if her friend had truly discovered her secret. "And why, then?"

"Yes, why?" Trelawney repeated, looking captivated.

"Well..." the German girl said with a little smile. "It's a kind of embarrassink dream, isn't it?"

"Er... Well..." Cat started, as she was about to confess.

"It's a bit hardcore..." Axelle continued, sounding sympathetic. "Wiz zinks... zat can't be told to little children... Actually, zat's why zis kind of dreams is forbidden for people under 18... Efen if you're only 15, I know, I know..."

"What?"

"Don't worry, I had dreams like zat too! Most of ze time, it happened in ze girls' bazroom, wiz George Weasley..."

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about?" Cat asked, her eyes wide open with horror, ready to spring on Axelle to stop her from speaking.

All of this was taking a course that Cat had been far from imagining, a few minutes earlier. Axelle was making Cat's dream even more awkward than it really was. Cat had wanted to say nothing about this imaginary kiss that she had had with Professor Lupin, because she found it already too embarrassing. Yet, her friend was clearly inventing some sexual encounter with Merlin knew who (and why not Professor Lupin?), which was a true scandal.

"Eferyone has his or her little hidden desires, you know!" Axelle continued. "Zere's nozink to be ashamed of!"

"You're wrong!" Cat protested. "It has nothing to do with that!"

"Eferyone has his or her secret appetites, zat wake up durink sleep! It often happens when you're frustrated..."

"Bloody hell! Will you shut up?" Cat roared with a furious voice.

"Yes, you're right, I'd better stop zere" the German finally said, calming down. "It's none of my business, after all. It's too personal... Forgife me for interferink zat way wiz your prifate life..."

"It's a tricky subject, indeed..." Trelawney admitted sincerely. "Even a taboo... I won't force you to write it in your diary."

"No, wait!" Cat exclaimed, totally confused, while the teacher was walking away to another table. "It's not what you think!"

"No, no, my darling!" the mantis said, looking over her shoulder with compassion. "Don't feel obliged to tell me about it!"

* * *

On Wednesday evening, at eight o'clock, two people were in the deserted dormitory of the Ravenclaw girls. A person and an animal, actually. A brown-haired and brown-eyed girl who sat on the mattress of her bed, and a red-collared duck who stood in front of her. Cat and Vince. The latter was in his Animagus form, of course. In fact, it was the only way for him to enter the girls' sleeping quarters without being thrown out by the spell that protected the dormitory from any male intrusion. But he only did that to talk to Cat in this quiet place. And only to talk, not for anything else!

The room was completely dark, because of the night reigning outside. Cat had lit a small candle on her bedside table. It only shone on the web-footed bird and her.

"I can't believe there are only two days left before the holidays..." Cat said, opening her eyes wide, as if she was trying to better grasp this idea.

"Time goes fast, indeed..." Vince noted, quacking in a way that only her friend could understand. "Christmas is in two months... Soon you'll have to pass the O.W.L.s..."

"Oh, please, don't make things worse!" Cat retorted, frowning at the thought of these exams.

"I was joking! You still have time until then! Enjoy your holidays, during which you won't have to study yet."

"Yes..." Cat answered, not sounding particularly cheerful.

What was the matter, now? Why couldn't she think about the next holidays with more eagerness and happiness? Why had she stayed so indifferent when Vince had mentioned these holidays? The years before, she was so happy to count the days, even the hours, that separated her from her holidays. So, why did she think about them without euphoria, now? Why did she even feel some kind of melancholia? Why did she feel so lost? In short, why wasn't she looking forward to being on holiday?

"Is something wrong?" Vince asked.

"No, no, I'm alright..." Cat answered, jumping a little, as she had just been woken up from her thoughts. "It's just that..."

It was because of him. Undoubtedly, because of Mr Lupin. Why did she always think of him? Why did she constantly see his face in her mind? All of this had gotten worse since she had seen him and had sat next to him at the library, on the previous Sunday. This moment had probably had a more important impact on her than she would have expected. He had troubled her, so much so that she had dreamt of him, three days after. So much so that... since this Sunday, she had not spent a single hour without thinking of him. She had not crossed a single corridor of the castle without looking if he was there. Since this Sunday, she had been in an altered state of mind. She didn't know what she was doing, nor why she was doing it (why indeed was she looking for him in some place where she didn't really believe he could be?). She didn't know why his face, his being were pursuing her in her thoughts, and even in her dreams. She didn't know why she was obsessed with all of this... And why was she thinking about him, whereas it was time to think about the holidays?

"I hope these holidays will make me forget him somehow..." she said, closing her eyes. "I'm talking about Professor Lupin" she explained when she opened her eyes and saw Vince's surprised look. "You know, last Sunday afternoon... Oh! You won't believe what happened to me!" she exclaimed, her voice sounding joyful again.

And so, she told him about the scene at the library. She told him everything, even the smallest details, and expanded on her every thought. She was talking with a radiant smile, and sometimes she was even giggling alone, full of happiness.

"And you managed to walk straight, when you left the library?" the duck asked.

"To tell you the truth, I was really afraid of stumbling and falling on Mr Lupin's table!" Cat confessed.

"But tell me..." Vince said with a more serious voice, this time. "Are you in love with him?"

At that moment, Cat realised how silent it was in the dormitory, when neither Vince nor her was talking. No whisper, no breathing. Only the flickering flame of the small candle on her bedside table gave the illusion of life. Cat stayed there, stoic, almost paralysed. She even didn't dare to open her mouth, for fear that she would let out some unwanted word. The question was serious. Even important, maybe. Now she had to answer this question as rationally and solemnly as it had been asked. She didn't want to lie to Vince, she wanted to be sincere with him. Yes, but to do so, she first had to be sincere with herself. She had to tell herself the truth. Before confessing it to her friend, she had to confess it to herself. Was she in love? She had never been in love before, so... was she in love? In love with a man, a teacher, who was at least twenty years older than her, who had more experience, a wife and kids maybe, and who saw her as nothing more than a simple student? Was she in love? Was this love? This obsession...

"Alright, I'll be honest with you!" Cat proclaimed with a voice that sounded more than determined, as if she was going to explain the plan of a commando operation. "Yes, I'm a little bit in love with him."

There she was, she had said it. She had not lied. She had been sincere, with Vince as well as with herself. She had read deep in her heart, and the feelings that she had found there could only be the results of a budding love.

"But I insist on the " _little bit_ "!" she added with that same conviction in her voice. "I don't think it is more than that... Don't believe that I'm madly in love with him... nor mad enough to think that I can try my luck along with him! He may be married!"

"Oooh, you know" Vince said with a mischievous smile, "it begins with looks, and then..."

"And then whaaat?" Cat asked with a big delighted smile.

"I'll keep my thoughts quiet for now..." the duck said, changing his mind, for he felt that he had gone a bit too far.

"Nooo, tell me!"

"No, no, I won't say anything more."

"Pleeeaaase!"

The dormitory soon came to life with a pillow fight, between a girl throwing bolsters and cushions and a duck twirling through the air to avoid the projectiles.


End file.
